The future depends on the past
by ArmySFC
Summary: Chuck, Sarah and Casey get a few new partners from the future to keep the present as it is. Charah from the start.
1. Prologue and warning

**Futures Past Prologue and warnings:** I guess this is more a synopsis than a prologue, I dunno you decide on your own. This was my first attempt at writing since College and I have again decided to fix and improve it. I have been reading Chuck fan fiction for as long as the show was on, and I never read a story about Chuck dealing with people from the future or aliens, so I decided why not? I tried to keep the same character traits they had on the show, but since I hate wimpy guys I had to make Chuck more bad ass as the story goes on. I also have an aversion to anything Morgan. It was Morgan getting the intersect after season 4 that caused me to stop watching the show, so if he is in my stories he will either die or be on the wrong side of the law because of the inherent flaws he has on the show. I can't remember what I did to him here, but as I go I may change what happens to him.

The basic premise of this story is a group of aliens (to us not to the story of course) have come back in time to prevent Annika Hansen from being born. If you follow STV you know who it is, if not it's Seven of Nine, still don't know her, well Google her, lol. They plan to kill her family so the line stops, but they over shot the time and went back to far. Worm holes and temporal anomalies will be in play wreaking havoc on the time lines of several people. Several characters from STV make an appearance or three in this, as does the technology from it.

The two main OFC's come from the future, Gabriel a Borg drone severed from the collective and Sirella, his Klingon wife and partner. Much of these two will be explained as the story goes on. The basics are Gabriel, because of the augmentation the Borg did to his body is much stronger, faster and quicker than a normal human. Sirella is a full Klingon, a proud but honorable warrior species. She is about 50% stronger than a normal human male. Combat is in her blood because she was trained from birth to be a warrior. So while they may seem out of place, as being too good, they fit in from the universe they come from.

There is violence, explosions, death and destruction in this story. Some of the fight scenes can be very graphic so you have been warned.

I don't write fluff, what I try to write is a story that has a good plot and interesting twists. I never liked how they pulled the rug out from under the Charah fans after season 2 so I don't wait long to put the two together where they belong in any of my work, this is no exception. Chuck and Sarah become a couple in chapter 1, engaged in three and I forget where I get them married.

There is mention of same sex relationships in this as well, because let's be honest, they exist in real life and in the future universe they are accepted and celebrated. There is no graphic sex of any kind in this story, I figure if I say they go to make love, you all should know what happens behind closed doors.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N 1:** **This is a very AU story containing elements of SCIFI and takes place after season 1. Events of season 2 and later may be used but may or may not happen in the order they did on the show. It is a slight cross over story merging the elements of Star Trek Voyager and Chuck. There are Characters from Star Trek Voyager in this story; however the STV universe is based on the universe used in the story "Princess" by H.W. and not the actual show. The STV universe gets explained as the story moves forward. Don't expect to see many of the STV characters in this story; they will be mostly in the first couple of chapters as they are needed for the story development. There will be mention of same sex relationships but no detailed sex scenes. There will also be some adult language in the story but not an excessive amount. My goal is to provide you the reader with some fluff, drama, suspense, action and comedy all wrapped up in one package. Normal disclaimers apply.**

**A very good author DaX wrote, "In a Universe as vast as ours, the possibilities are limitless" that applies to this story.**

**A/N 2: any conversations between Gabriel and Sirella in Italics are spoken in Klingon**

**AN3: Just to lay it on the line from the start. This story involves people coming back in time from the future. Sirella, is a full Klingon, which means she is about 50% stronger than a human, and faster. Gabriel is a Borg drone that was severed from the collective like 7 of 9. He still has implants that make him stronger and faster than any human. That's why in the fights scenes they seem so good. Also note the fights are vividly described and violent. So if this will bother you please stay away. Thanks!**

**11 Sept, 2008 0730 Ft Meade Md.**

General Beckman, though diminutive in size, carried herself in such a way she appeared much teller and menacing than her actual size would lead one to believe. She was mulling over in her mind the briefing she planned to give to Team Bartowski after learning about the demise of Langston Graham. She was now in sole control of the Intersect project and its team. Entering her office, she made her way to the coffee pot for her daily dose of caffeine. She started to pour her herself a cup when she heard a voice as cold as ice,

"General sit down and say nothing". It was by far the iciest voice she ever heard—it sent a cold shiver up her spine. Startled, she dropped her cup to the floor and whirled around to look at the intruder that had entered her office. She froze. Standing before her was a man who appeared to be no older than his early twenties. His eyes seemed to bore right through her and look deep into her soul.

"I said sit down," The man reminded her, cocking his head to the right, motioning to a chair, "I mean now, General, not when it suits you."

The command in his voice sent her back to the days she spent at West Point, reminding her of her days as a Plebe. Knowing she could not win this argument, she sat down behind her desk.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" she demanded.

"My name is Gabriel; I sometimes go by Wraith or Specter as well," Gabriel explained. "In a nut shell the reason I am here is to save your worlds sorry asses. There are plans in motion that are beyond your ability to handle at this point in time. A group of rogue agents that is not yet known to you or any of the three letter agencies is planning something beyond your darkest fears or imaginations."

"Well Gabriel, by all means explain it to me," She insisted and offered him a place to sit.

"Have your aide cancel your appointments for today if you want your answers. This is going to take a bit longer than one of your normal briefings."

She complied with his command and informed her aide, but she was stunned by the way the words were spoken to her. She was also still wondering how he got in and why he was here. She was going to get some answers one way or another,

"Gabriel, how did you get in here?" her voice stronger than before as her confidence started to come back.

"That General, is none of your concern," he replied, the coldness never leaving his voice. "Your number one concern should be the welfare of Chuck Bartowski and the rest of his team. We have been tracking his activities for a while now and I can assure you that if my people can follow him as easily as we did, so can your enemies and mine. The Intersect's missions aren't clean enough; your team leaves too many traces for people to follow General. "

For the first time in many years, unguarded fear ran through the General's veins. Someone she had no idea who he was or worked for knew about her best weapon against Fulcrum, not only that they appeared to know everything. The color had now drained from her face and her shoulders slumped.

Gabriel gave a little chuckle at the Generals expression, "General there are a few things you should know about me and my team. There is nothing to fear from me or my team. If I wanted them dead they would have been dead by now, if I wanted to capture them, I would have captured them long ago. No General what I want is to work with them. We want to be integrated into their team. But when we do join their team, we do it my way, Understand?"

"It seems like you have me at a disadvantage," Beckman sighed. "Now that the small talk is out of the way let's go over your plan."

**Later that day at Gabriel's headquarters east coast side of the US**

"That egotistical bitch is out of her ever loving mind!" Gabriel was now on a tirade, "for some Kahless be damned reason she argued with me! It took every last bit of my will power to not reach over and snap her pitiful neck." He was going to continue, but he felt the strong arms of his wife engulf him from behind and a low throaty growl, it was almost a purr came from her.

"Thanks Sirella, I needed that," he smiled as he spun around to give her a kiss. "Anyway, the plan has been set in motion. Within a few days the intersect team will have its new marching orders. They have a routine op scheduled for Saturday the 20th; they will be attending some kind of party involving businessmen and local politicians that are funding Fulcrum."

"We will need to monitor them during their mission and make contact after it is over," Gabriel continued to explain. "That was one thing the General insisted on when I told her about the severity of the situation. She also asked us to intervene if the mission goes pear shaped and they need help. We can just transport over there the night before and stay at a hotel near the party. Then we will bring them here and explain to them exactly what is going on. What do you think?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Sirella answered.

"Gabriel," a call came in over his com link, "we just got some new intel from the General's briefing to her team. The party they will be attending tomorrow is going to be a sci-fi based costume party. It appears he is a huge science fiction fan, as well as an avid gamer." His team leader informed him.

"Hack into his systems, get me all the information you can on the games he plays and what DVD's he usually buys. I need it in fifteen minutes." He commanded, not bothering to see if his orders would be carried out. His team may be the best in the collective but he was the deadliest. They knew if they failed to follow orders there would be no second chance.

"Well it seems or mark is a hard core SCIFI nut," Gabriel commented. "looks like we will need to dress up for the occasion."

"Good, I'll get our battle armor ready," answered his wife.

"As much as I'd like that, it would be too much. We will need something more from this era than ours."

Minutes later there was a knock on his door. The team lead had arrived with more information to pass on. The team lead began, "His most downloaded videos are a discontinued MTV animated show called Aeon Flux. There is also a movie by the same name as well as a video game. His favorite TV shows are Battlestar Galactica and Dr. Who. We downloaded all the pictures he has on his computer and put them on this padd," and handed the padd to Gabriel.

"Efficient," Gabriel said and motioned for the lead to leave the room. Once the man left he headed to his bedroom. Upon entering, he found his wife standing in front of the mirror looking at herself and rubbing her forehead. His demeanor instantly shifted from the controlled cold blooded operative to loving and devoted husband. Few beings ever saw him like this. Besides his wife, only the Queen, Princess and their small group of friends ever saw anything but the operative side of him.

"_Sirella what's wrong?"_

"_You want to know what's wrong?" _she snapped.

Having been married to her for so long he knew her Klingon temper was on the loose. She usually blew a fuse every couple of days so he learned to adapt to this behavior.

"_It's not bad enough they lightened my skin, gave me straight hair," _She continued_. "Did they stop there? No! They took away my ridges! I mean what the hell! They got all these freaks here with metal sticking out all over. Look at this picture, some idiot had metal spikes screwed into is skull! And they worried about my RIDGES!"_

He let her tirade continue on for a couple of minutes before walking over to her engulfing her in his arms. She instantly calmed down and relaxed into his arms. Knowing his wife was now calm enough to talk to he began, _"Review this padd and decide who you want to go as." _

_Minutes later her face lit up. "Aeon! That's who I will be gong as. You know us Klingon's- not modest in the least. Besides now that I have this human construct of a body I might as well use it. Who are you going as?_

"_I was planning on something a little less revealing, Neo from The Matrix."_

"_Mmm, very good choice, you know how much I like you in leather. We may never make it to the party!"_

"It is highly possible," he mused, "Let's head to the holodeck and engage some Hirogen hunters with mêlée weapons and get some practice in. You must be going crazy using these antiquated weapons let alone not being able to use your bat'leth! I know I am. After we kill off a few dozen Hirogen we'll go to the dojo and spar for a little while."

"You're right about that," Sirella purred as she guided him towards the couch and sidled on to his lap "and you know how I get after a good sparring session. I just want to…mmmm" he silenced her with a toe curling kiss.

Breaking away after a minutes of satisfying indulgence, he said, "Let's go, then we can head to California. When I lived here before I never wanted to go out west, to many idiots lived there. Now I have to go. Oh well, what are we going to do?"

Sirella was growling loudly now, a far cry from the soft purrs of earlier, "Make love to you. At least that's what I am going to do!"

"That is not what I meant," he said. He could see the tell tale signs of arousal in his wife's eyes. Since there was only one thing he could do, he picked up his wife he headed to the bed to practice something much more enjoyable first.

**16 September, 2008**

Sarah, Chuck and Casey sat in the briefing room waiting for Beckman so that the meeting could start. After several minutes of exchanging idle chatter, the display turned on and Beckman began.

"Team," She began, "On Saturday, Tony Jones, a man suspected of funding Fulcrum is having a party at his yacht club. Many high ranking public officials will be in attendance. Chuck and Sarah, you two will attend the party as guests of Mr. Sinclair, one of local politicians that received a large donation from Mr. Carmichael."

She continued, "This is an intel gathering mission only. You are not to attempt to apprehend anyone. Chuck, you will see if you can flash on anybody there and if you do, you will relay the information to Casey who will be in the van monitoring. People, this is a very important mission; we think Jones may be funneling some of his money to Trans World Shipping. This mission will be the beginning of your deepest cover assignment yet. We will meet again in a couple days to discuss the entirety of the mission, but as of right now, just begin to make friends with these people and get contact information. Now for the critical part: under no circumstances are you to take weapons to the party. There will be to many metal detectors around and we can't take that risk."

_WHAT? _Sarah screamed in her head._ She must have gone round the bend! Maybe I could just bring my knives…_

"Not even your knives, Agent Walker," Beckman added

_Is she reading my mind? _Sarah wondered, but said aloud, "Yes, Ma'am."

"If anything happens, follow the crowd no matter how much it deviates from your training. Run, scream, panic, I don"t give a damn, just do nothing that might give you away."

_Well, I got the panic part down pat, _Chuck mused.

"I don't care what you do, just look normal. We will have a team in place just in case anything goes wrong. Any questions so far?"

"Yes Ma'am, is this a black tie affair, or casual dress?" asked Chuck.

"Actually, Agent Bartowski, Mr. Jones has just returned from a sci-fi convention and decided he wanted to do a costume party. He is an avid gamer and sci-fi nut so it should be to your liking."

Sarah looked over at Chuck and was treated to the biggest grin she had ever seen. "Do not get any ideas Chuck. I am NOT going as Princess Leia!" she quipped, earning a frown from Chuck and a grunt from Casey.

"One last thing before I conclude this briefing. Your cover ID's and wedding rings will be delivered this afternoon and the costume shop has been notified that you will be coming in to order your costumes. They can get whatever you need shipped overnight so you will have them in time for the party. Beckman out," and she cut her feed.

"Well I for one don't like this one bit," began Sarah. "Going on a mission with no weapons makes no sense to me at all."

"You heard the General," began Casey, "she said there would be a team in place ready to assist if needed."

"The only thing left is for us to go to the shop and pick out our costumes," added Chuck. "this should be fun."

**20 September, 2008**

A white stretch limo pulled up outside the yacht club where the party was being held and waited for the valet to wave them forward. Once parked near the entrance the driver got out and went to open the door. Chuck exited the limo first, dressed in his Hans Solo costume. Sarah was next wearing a spaghetti strap red dress that hugged her curves in all the right places and a pair of wide yellow sunglasses finished off the ensemble; she was the spitting image of Number Six from Battlestar Galactica.

Chuck and Sarah walked hand in hand into the party. Once inside they were amazed at the wide range of costumes; almost every genre of sci-fi movie had at least one representative present. Chuck had a few flashes on some minor drug runners, which Casey reported in to the DEA. Other than those few men there was no one of much importance at the party.

They needed to begin establishing their cover so they searched out Mr. Jones. They found him seated at the bar chatting with his wife and a local businessman. He was dressed as the Terminator, but being small in stature he failed to pull it off. After the introductions were made the small talk began. They spent the next hour or so talking, mostly about video games. Jones was impressed with Chuck's love of both video games and science fiction. Chuck was actually excelling on this mission because it fit in with who he was.

The couples made plans to meet again over dinner later in the week. Jones looked away from his new friends when he heard a murmur coming from across the room and his mouth hung open. His eyes grew to the size of saucers as the new couple approached. Everyone turned to see what had captured his attention. Even Chucks jaw dropped which earned him an elbow to the ribs, he mumbled a quiet "I am sorry"

Striding into the room came Neo. At six feet tall his long legs striding forward caused his long black leather jacket to flow behind him, Black jeans and t-shirt that strained to conceal the muscles that rippled as he moved. His hair, just as black, was slicked back and he was wearing dark shades. Beside him was a woman five feet ten, with long jet black hair that reached almost to her butt. Her dark brown eyes were glinting with mischief as she looked around the room, like a hunter searching for its prey. She was garbed in a black leather half jacket with a high collar leaving her finely toned midriff bare. The gloves she wore appeared to be sewn into the sleeves of her jacket. Her boy shorts (if you could call them that), were barely keeping her unmentionables covered. Finally, thigh high black boots finished off her ensemble. The entire outfit appeared to be spray painted on. The man and woman moved together as if they were one entity, both sleek and powerful. When they reached their host Neo introduced himself and his wife.

"Mr. Jones your party is fantastic! I am Gabriel and this lovely lady is my wife Sirella." he said, extending his hand.

"Sirella, did you know that Aeon Flux is my favorite character? You costume is perfect! The woman dressed as Starbuck is my wife Blair, oh, and this lovely couple is Chuck and Sarah Carmichael."

Sarah's spy senses went on high alert. Something about Gabriel was off. All the years of being an agent aided her in picking out the smallest details. His body appeared calm and collected but his eyes told a different story. They were cold and calculating, not fitting in with his friendly and relaxed air. His wife was no different than he was. Though offering a comforting smile, Sarah could see the muscles in both of them tensed and ready to uncoil, like a panther before it strikes. Both had a predatory air about them.

Chuck, seeing Sarah go into extreme agent mode spoke out, "If they gave out a prize for the best costume, you two would win hands down"

"Thank you Mr. Carmichael. Yours' is not too bad either and your wife's is exquisite" answered Sirella.

"But umm, aren't you cold?" stammered Chuck. Despite being with Sarah, beautiful women still caused Chuck to get foot in mouth disease.

Sarah rolled her eyes, "I love him but he's still a nerd," she sighed.

Sirella chuckled at the comment and decided to have some fun seeing how flustered Chuck could get. "No Chuck I'm not. In fact, I'm hot, very hot." She purred, literally, her Klingon vocal cords allowing it.

Gabriel just let out a small laugh, "Damn babe you're bad. Poor boy is gonna be ruined before the night is over, that is, if his wife does not kill him. "

Sarah heard it as well, _Is she purring? _She thought, _Damn! That bitch is purring at my Chuck. I'm gonna kill her. _

The host and hostess just took it all in, laughed and excused themselves to go mingle. Chuck, noticing the ire in Sarah's eyes decided that discretion was still the better part of valor and moved Sarah away.

After they had moved away from the couple Sarah let loose "She purred at you! I mean really purred. Who does she think she is showing up here looking like that and then flirting with you? And right in front of her husband too!"

Chuck was stunned for a second at Sarah's outburst. Then it dawned on him, she's_ jealous. Sarah Walker, the great super spy is jealous!_ For the second time that night, his mouth engaged before consulting his brain. "You're jealous!"

"Damn straight I am!" the words were out before she realized it.

All Chuck could do was smile, pull her in for a hug and whisper "Thank you" in her ear.

"Why are you thanking me?"

"Sarah you know I love you, and now I believe that you are in love with me even if you can't say. When I see you get all jealous and it gives me hope that it could be real. That you and I could be together one day. So thank you" he gently places a kiss on her lips.

_Just when I don't think I can love him anymore he says something like that._

"Hey you two, you're making me sick here. Would you mind getting back in the game?" Casey's voice came over the ear wig. "Looks like you're about to get company and they don't look friendly. Remember the plan and act normal," Casey grunted

"How many Casey, and what are they packing?" Sarah asked

"About twenty, but only a few appear to be armed. Keep an eye on your boyfriend, Walker; don't let him do anything stupid"

"No worries Casey, for me panic comes easy!" Chuck replied.

Within seconds, the men had entered the party and were making their way to Jones, pushing people to ground that refused to get out of their way. Several of the men pulled weapons and prepared to start firing.

Chuck's eyes rolled to the back of his head- the tell tale sign of a flash. Sarah, seeing it was more intense than normal, grabbed Chuck and held him as he sank to the floor holding his head. "Casey, I flashed on all of them. They are all Fulcrum, but are not listed as active. They must have splintered off….." He didn't finish. The information overload had caused him to pass out.

Sarah looked up from tending to Chuck and she saw a black streak fly by. What she saw astounded her. Sirella landed in front of them and then leapt at the attacker farthest to her left. Aeon's muscles were tense and pulsing, wound like and over-tightened piano wire ready to snap. Sarah knew that when she did snap, somebody was going to have a bad day. Aeon's right arm flashed out in a move so fast it was almost missed. It passed just outside the man's left ear and the palm turned outward and down latching on to the back of the man's neck, at the same time her left leg flew up and behind his head using her right leg to push off the ground. This got her airborne and heading to the next thug in the row. Her hand squeezed and snapped the man's neck like a twig, his lifeless body hitting the ground. Her legs then wrapped around the next thugs neck, and like a diver doing a full twist she spun her body toward the ground. An audible snap was heard as the second mans neck was turned in a most unusual way, effectively severing the spinal cord and ending his life.

The third attacker decided on a different approach, he charged straight at Aeon, and it was a mistake, the last one he would ever make. He threw a powerful right hand that seemed to be in route to its target. At the last second she tilted her head to the right causing the punch to go wide. Shooting her left hand out; she struck with uncanny accuracy on his sternum. Sarah remembered this hit was known to stop the heart. The sickening sounds of ribs breaking left no doubt in Sarah's mind that the man's sternum was driven into his heart. The fourth and fifth attackers had realized that hand to hand would not work with this killing machine. They started to draw their weapons to take out the threat.

Sirella was now in full battle lust. Thousands of years of warrior heritage were coming through. Through hers eyes everything was turned a shade of red as she was consumed by the battle lust. She had only one option now: kill or be killed. A feral growl erupted and she screamed out something in a language never before heard.

Her Klingon senses now fully awakened saw the threat and acted. Her right leg flew up in a motion similar to that of a punter in football. The top of her foot connected just under the man's chin, the impact shattering the man's jaw bone on impact driving the roof of his mouth into his brain, sending blood and teeth flying. With the grace of a large cat and the reflexes of a mongoose, Sirella moved on to the final attacker. His arm was almost in a position to get a shot off when her left leg came crashing down on his shin. The man howled in pain as his shin was now at a forty five degree angle and both ends were sticking out of the skin. He fell to the floor, no longer able to support his weight on the shattered limb. Her next blow would finish this dance. She threw her right hand out aiming for the temple. On contact the skull caved in and took on a lopsided shape. She headed to the middle of the room where her husband was still engaging targets.

CIA Agent Sarah Walker was stunned. She was one of the best at hand to hand combat and martial arts, and she thought she had seen it all, but she had never witnessed anything like this. This woman scared her. The dance she wove was intricate and smooth with no wasted motion. One move flowed to another with deadly intent. Each strike was launched with precision. She had never seen power like this before. She knew she had hit people hard enough to break a cheek bone or jaw, but never hard enough to crush a skull or snap a leg bone.

Senses still on alert, she heard a noise behind her. Spinning around she saw the faces of two men brandishing Glock 22's. She knew that at their distance she'd never get to them before they got off a shot. She only has one option, protect Chuck. Not because he's the intersect, but because he's the man she loves. She figures it would be worth it, her life for his.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: It's about Time**

**A/N: Still don't own Chuck or STV. I have written the dates in the way I am accustom to: day/month/year. This story is very AU and from this point on will not be close to cannon. Some parts of cannon maybe used but the times will vary. Thanks to BDaddyDL for the Beta.**

They say things happen in slow motion as you are about to meet you maker, that you can see your life flash before your eyes. As Sarah started to drape herself over Chuck, she saw a knife handle appear on the foreheads of her two attackers as their bodies start to fall. They hit the floor almost at the same time she comes to rest on Chuck. Knowing the direction the knives came from she turns her head in that direction. Over fifty feet away, she spots Gabriel standing there a hand around a man's neck holding his feet inches off the ground. She has seen death many times, and she knows the man being held has taken his last breath. The next move astonishes her more that what Sirella had been able to do. With what seemed to be flick of his right wrist Gabriel tosses the body twenty feet from where he is standing. He glances over at Sarah and gives her a nod letting her know he had taken out her two assailants. She is good with knives, but the skill it would take to hit two targets at that distance with such accuracy was unheard of. Standing in the doorway she spots Casey. She has never seen much of an expression on him, but now he has a look of what must be pure admiration. She has never witnessed such destruction in such a short period of time. The only thought on her mind is _I hope they are on our side._

While monitoring the surveillance equipment in the van, Casey heard the beginnings of the confrontation, then it all went quiet. He knew there was going to be trouble, and with Walker having no weapons, he called in the back up team. At least he tried to. His signals were being jammed.

_Fuck it! Chuck never stays in the car, Why…Should…I! _

Felling like he doesn't have a choice, he rushes in to the party to help his partners. What greets him stops him dead in his tracks. Sarah is on her knees cradling Chuck. A half naked female is taking on three attackers, with two bodies already on the ground. A man in a long black coat has just dispatched one of the agents with a blow to the throat. Only seven agents remain of the twenty that had arrived. Bodies litter the floor around the man, their blood making his footing difficult. One of the agents makes a move on the man in the coat. Punches are traded for several seconds and it looks to be an even battle. The agent tries a left hook to body. With a speed that Casey has never seen before the coat guy steps into the blow causing it to miss. He pins the arm against his side with his right arm, and then turned a half turn to the left, effectively dislocating the elbow, and bending it ninety degrees from normal. The pure guttural scream of pain from the injured man almost makes Casey cringe. His pain is short lived as the coat guy delivers a punch to the side of his attackers head. The sound it makes reminds Casey of a melon hitting the floor. He knows the man is toast.

Gabriel, like his spouse, is now in full battle lust, except it is Borg in nature. Cold, calculated, precise and logical. Two men are now attacking him, his cortical node taking just nanoseconds to devise a defense and eliminate the threat. Both hands fly out and grab the fronts of his attackers. Using his Borg enhanced strength he lifts both men over his head. In a wind mill motion he brings his right arm down while turning it over. This move turns the attacker over on his back in mid air. He slams the body to the ground with such force all the internal organs rupture and blood erupts from the mouth like a geyser. Using his enhanced hearing he knows this attacker is no more. He repeats the process with the one still in the air.

Only two remain and they look unsure of how to proceed. Off to his left he hears something and he recognizes it as the sound of a slide being pulled back, and a round being chambered into a pistol. He quickly calculates how much time he has before the agents attacking the people he is supposed to protect are killed. Their death is an unacceptable outcome. With speed and precision born from his days as a drone, he unleashes two knives that had been pulled from his sleeve. He sees Sarah start to cover Chuck as his missiles strike true. One of the remaining attackers is now gone, a victim of his wife. He knows she is deep in the haze of battle lust. Grabbing the last remaining attacker he ends it quickly by breaking his neck. Sending a small nod to Sarah to let her know he saved her ass, he carelessly flings the lifeless body to the side to see it land twenty feet away.

Sarah still kneeling on the ground cradling Chuck, motions for Casey to come over. He makes his way to Sarah and Chuck trying to avoid the dead bodies and blood that are littering the floor. He notices for the first time the damage done to the attackers. Several had their throats cut, most still attached buy the smallest amount of flesh. Stab wounds on some told Casey the coat guy had hit the femoral or brachial arteries. _These people are pros, he knows exactly where to strike a lethal blow._ When he finally reaches Sarah, Chuck is starting to come around. Knowing Chuck and blood do not go well together, Sarah turned his head away to keep him from looking.

"You really don't want to see this." She whispers in his ear and hugs him.

Gabriel and Sirella made their way over to the trio, arms looped around each other like they were walking in a park. He brushed his lips against hers before turning to the group. "You need to leave, now!" he hissed. He reached down pulled his knives out of the bodies. After wiping them off on the dead man's clothes he stands back up. Turning, Gabriel and Sirella, exit out the side entrance as the sound of the police sirens got closer.

"No Shit! Come on Walker we need to move. Help me get Chuck out of here." They help Chuck up and leave the same way as Gabriel and Sirella.

An hour later, the team was back at the castle to give Beckman the report. They had only been seated a short while when the screen turns on and the General appears. "How did the mission go Agents? Were you able to make any inroads with Mr. Jones?"

"Chuck and I have an invitation to have dinner with Mr. Jones and his wife later in the week. He was pretty impressed with Chucks gaming and I got on well with his wife. I think we made headway tonight."

"Very good Walker, we need you to get close; we believe he has ties to the cell in Philadelphia. We pulled the security tapes from the yacht club's ball room where the party was held and our analysts are going over them now. We noticed a…. disturbance before the party ended." Sarah snorted_ disturbance my ass._ "Agent Walker you did a good job tonight of not getting involved. Chuck what else can you tell us about the men you flashed on?"

"The initial flash said the agents used to be Fulcrum, but are no longer with them. Further investigation shows that they were listed as dead or MIA. My initial thoughts are they've splintered and gone rogue, or they may have moved up to the parent organization. Either way, I'm still not sure."

Sarah thought it was time she brought up the couple that had caused all the devastation they had witnessed. "Ma'am there was a couple at the party that I think we need to check out. I believe they are some kind of agent. General, I thought I was good at hand to hand, but this couple scares me. I watched the woman, in less than a minute, kill five agents with her bare hands. I have never seen speed and power like that before."

Casey carried on "General, when I got there, the man already had a pile of bodies surrounding him. Two agents had circled behind Walker and Bartowski and drew their weapons. Walker tried to cover Bartowski who was down, that's when he threw two knives that hit the agent's dead center of the forehead. He was at least fifty feet from them. Then, after he broke a guy's neck he tossed the body twenty feet as it was nothing. Ma'am, I hate to say it but if they aren't working for us, we could be in trouble."

"Casey's right Ma'am, especially if there are more of them," Sarah joined back in.

Pondering the information for a few seconds, Beckman carried on "Since Chuck didn't flash on them, we may not have any intel on them. Then again, it has been a while since you downloaded the intersect. Chuck, I'll have an update emailed to you by tomorrow evening. Did you get their names?"

"Yes we did general, his name was Gabriel and her name was Sirella. They are probably aliases anyway," answered Chuck

The General paled slightly at this information. The reaction does not go unnoticed by the team. She recalled the meeting in her office when Gabriel said they were sorry asses. _If he is that good, he has a reason to criticize. Walker and Casey are a couple of our best agents and they don't scare easy. Walker says she's scared of the female then with what Casey says, Gabriel must be much better. I am Glad they are on our side. Well I think anyway, _Quickly schooling here emotions she decided to wrap it up "Chuck looks worn out from all the flashes so I'll wrap it up. Get some sleep, dismissed" and the screen went blank.

Sarah and Chuck went in her Porsche and Casey in his Crown Vic. When they got to the apartment they told Ellie and Devon about the date they had been on. To keep their cover up the couple retired to Chuck's room in his sister's apartment. With Chuck still suffering from his massive headache brought on by the numerous flashes, the couple changed for bed and snuggled into a blissful slumber.

20 Sep 2008

General Beckman sat back in her chair and thought over the events of her team's last mission. To say she was amazed by her new team member's performance would be the understatement of the year. Laying her head back she went over the events that lead to her gaining their new status, as well as their "new friends."

**11 Sept, 2008 0730 Ft Meade Md**

"_It seems like you have me at a disadvantage Gabriel, so let's discuss you plan."_

_Conversation flowed back and forth, with final arguments yet to be made. It had been decided that the NSA would get all credit from the ops the new team would have to complete. That left the one sticky point. Gabriel chocking his head brings it light, "The relationship between Walker and Bartowski has got to change starting now. They are ineffective as it stands now." _

"_I couldn't agree more, I will have Walker reassigned immediately and get another agent to replace her. It would cause me less headaches." The General moves to grab the phone to make her call but her hand is grabbed by Gabriel. _

"_Touch that phone, or try that stupid idea you just spouted, and you'll lose my help as well as theirs," Gabriel snarled. "I will have them picked up so fast your head will spin. There is no where you can hide them that we cannot get to them. No General, what you will do is sanction their relationship. My wife and I have been working together for years. We are the best in our… agency. The fact that I got into you office, without anyone noticing me, should be proof enough. If that's not enough, some of the data you have on Fulcrum and rogue agents was placed in the first intersect by us. Fulcrum is just the tip of the iceberg. The group that we are going after is not your typical bunch of rogue agents. They value family. That is how they have gotten so many of your agents to join. Of the agents we have discovered, more than seventy five percent have families. That's why many of the missions you send pretend couples on fail. This is better than anything you have ever seen."_

_Beckman took in the information given to her by Gabriel, an agent if that is what he is, and if so who does he work for? A clearing of a throat breaks her from her thoughts. "Where and when is their next mission and what is its scope?" questions Gabriel. _

_The General gives a detailed breakdown of the op they will be tasked with. "Very good General, I do not want them informed of the changes that will be made before the op. My wife and I will be there to monitor it. Do not worry they will never know we are there, unless the shit hits the fan. Two more things, before I fly my happy ass to California. First, is when you tell them, do it in person, not over the video conference. Second, do not ever try and bull shit me. I will know. I will know where you are and where you should be, and if you cross me, you will be dead within an hour, and I will be the one doing it." Gabriel said the last part in a deadly tone that left no room to deny the intent of those words. Beckman knew if she crossed this man her life would last no longer than a day. "Good day General I will see myself out." And with that he was gone._

_That last memory startled the General out of her thoughts. She needed to get on plane and fast. She had her Aide get her on the first flight out of DC._

20 Sep 2008 Casa Bartowski

Chuck and Sarah were sitting on the couch watching a movie. They had just finished having dinner with Chuck's sister Ellie and her husband Devon. Chuck calls out "Hey Ellie" to his sister who's in the kitchen with Devon cleaning up after dinner

"What are you and Devon planning to the rest of the night?"

"Nothing really, we both have off tomorrow and were thinking of going to the new club that just opened. One of the doctors I work with said they have a very good lounge singer. Plus, he said it has an intimate atmosphere. You guys should come."

"What do you say Sarah, care to join them?" Chuck asks, using his puppy dog eyes hoping to get an edge. _Come on say yes, it will be date but not a date. This sucks having to lie to Ellie and_ _I hate having to lie to myself._

_This will be as close as I can to a real date with him. I finally find someone who makes me happy and I can't do shit about it. Might as well grab what I can._ _Maybe one day I will actually be able to tell him I love him. _"I'd love to Chuck"

"Hey Ellie, were in!"

Before Ellie can respond there is a knock at the door. Chuck hurries over to open it and finds Casey standing there. Casey signals over to Walker to have her join them. When she gets there he informs them "We have an emergency briefing with Beckman in thirty minutes at Castle. I asked her why we could not link up at my place but she said it had to be at the castle."

"Damn Casey, we just told Ellie we would join her and Devon for a night out." Whined Chuck

"Don't worry Chuck, I got this" grunts Casey "Sorry to barge in like this. Chuck must have forgotten to tell you that he and Sarah were supposed to join me tonight." John Casey said keeping the lie as simple as he could.

"Yeah John, Chuck can be like that. Don't worry. Chuck we'll take a rain check." Ellie calls back.

"No problem Chuckster." Devon adds putting his two cents in

"Thanks Guys. Sorry I forgot. Casey lets go."

"Ellie, Devon I'll see you later, and thanks for dinner," Sarah chimes in.

"Sarah, why don't you just stay overnight here instead of heading back to your place?" Ellie asks.

"I'm sorry I can't I have something I need to take care of later." Answers Sarah as her and Chuck leave to join Casey.

"Devon, I just don't get those two. What's taking them so long to move to the next level of their relationship?"

"I have no idea babe, no idea at all"

Their Goodbyes said, the trio exits Casa Bartowski and heads to the castle. Passing through the security points they head to the briefing room. What awaits them there sends cold tendrils of fear up their spines. Seated at the table is none other the Brigadier General Diane Beckman, Director of the NSA. All of team B had the same thought _Oh, crap this is bad. Great just great_._ Well now I know why Casey's place was out._ "Take your seats." Commands Beckman

Chuck sits first, then Sarah to his left, and finally Casey to his right. Stealing glances at each other, wondering why the General would come here. And what is the size of the ax she would be using. Their torment is short lived as the first strike comes, swiftly and without remorse.

"As of this minute the intersect mission as you know it is over" calmly states the General. "You've compromised yourself with the asset Agent Walker." The blow strikes Sarah hard, her head lowers toward the desk and her eyes close waiting for the ass chewing she is about to get. Her face drains of all color, knuckles white as she clenches her fists together. Turning her face towards Chuck seeing complete devastation in is soulful brown eyes. "You let your asset get to you. We've suspected it for a while now. That said, Agent Walker, you will be reassigned immediately to Langley, report there no later than 1500 on the 25th."

Shaken to her core Sarah steeled herself to make her argument on why she should stay, but she can only get out a meek, "Ma'am, I have never let my feeling for my asset stop me from doing my job." Sarah's thoughts start quickly running through head, _shit_ _that's something I didn't expect_. _I wonder what the General has up her sleeve, Bunker or termination order? Well it won't be me. Chuck means too much to me to do it. We'll run, no that won't work. Maybe they will let him be an agent? Gotta think, gotta think. I can't lose him! _

The general holds up her hand, and fixes Sarah with an icy glare that silences her. "Enough" the General barks out. Beckman pauses reading the second strike of the ax. It also strikes hard and fast with no remorse and just as accurate.

"Major Casey" Barks the General "you are to report to Ft. Meade no later than 1500 on the 25th" Casey's reaction is different, his face sports a never seen before grin, making him look less like the cold blooded killer he is and more like a kid that just got the best Christmas present ever. Casey's immediate thought _there is a God! About time I got out of that loony bin, maybe now I can do something more to my liking _Casey's smile slowly fades as his thoughts change._ Maybe they decided to put Chuck in a bunker after all. Poor kid he does not deserve this. Damn, Walker was the best partner I ever had. This shit ain't right. What the hell is she thinking? We have the best record out of all the teams out there. _

_Beckman was also lost in thought for a second. That got their attention! Damn I'm good! I just hope it gets Walker to admit her feelings about Chuck and we can move this along. _Just as she starts to continue on with the briefing Chuck jumps in, "General what about…"

"Shut it Bartowski. If I want to hear from you, I'll let you know. Now stay quiet until I finish my brief. When I am done you will have all the answers you need." But Chuck does not like that answer and begins to talk again. Casey silences him with an elbow to the ribs before he can get started.

Casey leans and whispers in to Chuck in a tone that could freeze ice, "now's not the time, just let her finish" Sarah slips her hand under the table and gives him a reassuring pat on the leg, and a small smile in an attempt to calm him down. These actions don't go un-noticed by the General. Getting the feeling that the situation is slowly getting away from her she starts again.

"Agent Walker, I would like to congratulate you on keeping your professional attitude while dealing with a very difficult situation. I feel the situation between you and the asset has gotten out of control and needs to be rectified"

"Thank you Ma'am." Replies Sarah,_ wow did not see that coming._ Sarah's is in a panic, her features don't show her inner turmoil. Her years of being an agent allow her to school her emotions, going into what Chuck calls agent mode. She not sure where Beckman is going with this, but she is sure it is not good. _Please let me at least have the chance to tell Chuck how feel about him before they separate us. I wasted so much time pretending he didn't matter when I could have been with him. _

The General nods her acquiescence, and continues on "I have always firmly believed that there should not be any feelings between asset and handler. Emotions diminish the agent's ability to perform their duties, they make them question their decisions and cloud their judgment. Recently it was pointed out to me that this is the not the truth in some cases. Love" upon saying the word love, the General can feel a warmth rise in her chest "can make an agent better, make them work harder than an agent that does not care if the asset lives or dies. It makes them more willing to give their life for the asset without a second thought. Conversely it makes the asset better; all you need to do is look at Chuck."

'_Uh what look at me, why? All I ever do is mess up_ are the thoughts going through Chucks mind_._

"I am sure Major Casey will agree with me on this, if Chuck was not in love with you Agent Walker, do you really think he would have jumped off the roof of that building to save you? The reason he never stays in the car is because he can't stand the thought of you getting hurt, he believes in his own mind that he can help you despite never having been trained. Just look at Chuck, being in love can give you an inner strength you never thought you had. All that being said, Chuck because of your importance, I wish you'd stay in the damn car!"

_Can she be saying what I hope she is? _Sarah wonders_ I have never felt like this about anyone else before._

_Is she saying I can have a relationship with Sarah, does Sarah even want one with me?_ By this point in the briefing Chucks mind is reeling.

Giving the group a few moments to compose themselves the General continues on, "Agent Walker I need the answer to this question, and don't screw with me on it. I want the truth, not the company line understood? Before you answer consider this, it's not the truth that will set you free, but the lie."

"Yes General"

"Do you love Chuck?"

Looking over at Chuck Sarah gives him the largest grin he has ever seen on her face, unshed tears appearing in her sky blue eyes. He's looking back at her with liquid browns eyes wide with excitement, and she can see the love he feels for her radiating off his face. The happiness that she has been denied for so long in her life finally has a chance to break through the walls she has built around her heart. Her love for Chuck's shattered those walls, and pours outward from her heart infusing her body with a sense of warmth and calm she has always wanted to have, but she thought could never be hers.

Still looking at Chuck, she knows this is it. This feeling is what has been missing from her for as long as she can remember. She owes it all to the tall curly haired man sitting across from her, who snuck into her heart by chipping away the walls she had carefully erected around it. Not by any grand gestures or gifts, but by the small almost insignificant things, his knowing she hates olives, her favorite flowers, the music she likes most after a tough mission. It was the bracelet that used to be his mothers, and most of all not bugging her about the past. A man with a heart of gold, who has, on many occasions, risked his life to save hers, despite her objections, A person who put her first unlike all the other men in her life who always looked out for themselves first then her. She knew he would gladly give his life for hers, and not think twice about it. Now with the utterance of a single word, three measly letters, the one word that has the ability to change the dynamics of the team for good, will give her everything she has denied herself for so long. One word will change her life forever.

With a confidence in her feelings she did not think she had, she turns and looks at the General and says in a voice that sounds almost lyrical, "Yes, with all my heart." A small smile appears on the Generals face. When it does, years seem to fade from her face, and it makes her seem more human.

"Great, and now for you Mr. Bartowski, I have no idea why I am asking this, because if the tears in your eyes and the smile on your face are any indication; the answer is obvious. Do you love Sarah Walker?"

Chuck, caught up in the revelation that Sarah loves him, barely registers that the General is speaking to him. A guy so far out of her league that if he was playing ball for his high school team, she would be in the major leagues. She's like a panther, sleek, agile, quick and deadly, yet her beauty compares to that of Aphrodite. From the first time he saw her, he knew she was the one. He trusts her completely with his life, and now with his heart. The questions that have been plaguing him for months have now been answered there will be no more, "it's complicated" when talking to Ellie about their relationship. One lie he has been telling his sister has just been removed from his life. His dream of having a real relationship with Sarah has just been handed to him on a silver platter complete with the serving set. Fueled by the knowledge that Sarah loves him and the fact the General seems to be on board with it; his mind is made up. Chuck turns to face Sarah and takes her left hand in his right. Using his left hand he gently reaches towards her face placing his palm gently on her cheek and brushes away the tears with his thumb.

Chuck kept his eyes focused on Sarah's as he answered, "The question General should have been, when haven't I loved Sarah. Yes Ma'am I do, so speaking for the both of us; thank you for giving us this chance to be together." Sarah could only nod her head in agreement as she was still trying to come to grips with what had just transpired.

Casey, looking over at the couple, graced them with a small smile and a nod of approval. Realizing that this was not the main reason for the briefing turned to the General and raised the question, "Ma'am, you just reassigned Walker and me, what does this mean for the team?"

"I will get to that in a minute. Agent Walker and Agent Bartowski," seeing the shocked looks on the new couple's faces she continues on, "You heard correctly Agent Bartowski. The only way I will officially sanction this relationship is if, and only if, you are both agents. It's a game of give and take Bartowski, you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours. Well I just scratched yours, now you can scratch mine. You have the option to join the CIA or NSA. Which will it be?"

Sarah and Chuck turn to look at each other and silently communicate with each other. Their eyes darted back and forth, words exchanged but not spoken. After several seconds Sarah nods and gave his hand a squeeze of insurance, "Well General since my girl friend is CIA" giving her one of his lopsided grins, "I think I'll keep it the family. The CIA Ma'am"

"Very well Agent Bartowski. When you three report in, we will have you do the proper paperwork. Now that the issue is put to bed, we can address the main reason I called the meeting. The mission you are about to embark on is going to be a long deep cover assignment that may last several years. The operation itself will be mostly here in the states. You will relocate to Philadelphia, but will require extensive travel abroad"

"General?" Chuck quips nervously, "Umm… how am I going to explain this at work or to Ellie? Most of our missions have been here and I can get away. You don't know Ellie, Ma'am; she will not just accept the fact that I quit Buy More and rolled off to Philadelphia."

Casey shoots Chuck a glaring look that says "_suck it _up!" Sarah mean while just looks at Chuck and gives him a look that says _don't worry. We'll figure it out and it will be all right._

Letting out a small sigh, Beckman thinks "_damn he must think were idiots_" before going on with her answer, "Tomorrow you and Casey are to begin your first mission code named, 'operation quit the Buy More.'" Shocked faces stare at the General for a few seconds, and then slowly look at each other. "Start acting like you're unhappy at work, and hint that you are looking for other jobs. Prior to your relocation you can give your two week notice. With the changes that were just made, and the scope of the mission you be embarking on, it is imperative that all family ties continue, as well as the ones with your friends."

Chuck just stared at the General like she has two heads, _ok something's wrong here. Beckman has finally lost it. Maybe she's been abducted by pod people. There is no way this is the same person that tormented me for the past two years._

_Aw crap, Big Mikes gonna be pissed I'm just up and leaving. I hate screwing him over. Then there's Morgan what the heck is he gonna do? Oh well Anna's just gonna have to get him through it. But the good part is, no the great part is I'm out of there. Shit, what about a job. I need a reason to give Ellie for just up and leaving. Better ask that one. _

"Mr. Bartowski, in the near future you will receive, via the mail, a job offer from the government to work in their software development department based in Washington," Continued Beckman.

"On paper you will hold a pay grade and position of a GS 12. You will receive all the back pay from when you became the intersect," Beckman pauses for a second before continuing, "In reality you will be working for us as you have been, you will be drawing a check from the CIA. During the down time between missions you will receive small arms and self defense training from Walker and Casey. In addition to that, you will spend time at one of the CIA's training locations to work on basic spy craft, with the additional skills you may at some time in the future be able to draw from the intersect; you should be able to achieve full agent status in a decent amount of time. That should take care of the job and Ellie issue, correct?"

"Yes General"

"Before we started this briefing I finished a meeting in which I was given the intelligence information on a group of terrorists that has plans to attack a major location in Europe. Much of the information is sketchy at best, no determined location, no method of attack and no timeline, just the overall consensus it will be in Europe." Beckman pauses to observe the three team members, seeing the nods of understanding, she continues,

"The only solid information we have is the cell's main base of operation is located in Philadelphia, operating under the business name of Trans World Shipping Inc. Analysts from the CIA, FBI and surprisingly the IRS, traced their money trail to shell companies in foreign countries. Most are located in the Middle East and South America. Using this information they were able to figure out that most of the businesses were fronts for drug trafficking, money laundering and prostitution. Intelligence data from our field agents in the respective countries were able to determine that this money was then rerouted to the various terrorist training camps around the world. Any questions before I continue?"

"General, that's not much to go on." says Casey "How did they come to the conclusion the attack will be in Europe?"

The general purses her lips and pauses a moment before replying, "I know" she replies, answering the first part of the question. "A lot of chatter has been picked up over cell phone communications, and some hand held radios. Our agents have also managed to get their hands on some low level terrorist computers. From there the analysts put it all together. Does that answer your question Maj. Casey?"

"Yes Ma'am."

Beckman continues "Walker and Bartowski will be posing as the Carmichaels, a married couple. That is until they actually decide to actually get married. Chuck's cover will be that he comes from a wealthy family, but he has more the tripled his wealth on his own. He developed the latest encryption software used by the Government as well as several video games. He will have an extensive stock portfolio, mostly blue chips."

"Sarah, will be a former fashion model now working in the financial sector," Beckman had never been this long winded before needed a drink. "I figured it was about time we put the money we spent on sending you to Harvard to good use. They will be looking to invest their money in the shipping industry. Trans World Shipping is holding a large gala hoping to entice investors to finance their company."

"Major Casey, you will be acting as the couples body guard. Invitations have already been sent to you and should be at Mr. Bartowski's house within a couple days. Agents, you will relocate to Philadelphia by the end of the November. We would like you to head the Philadelphia at the beginning of the month and buy a house. Make sure it is near an air field or has a small landing pad on the property. In keeping with his status as a wealthy businessman we will provide you with a small plane. That way when Chuck needs to head in for his training you three can fly there. Remember this all on the CIA and NSA so make sure the house reflects his wealth."

"Won't it be a waste of Chucks abilities if we only use him for one assignment?" queried Sarah

Beckman gave her answer. "One of the benefits of this long term mission is it will allow your team to travel to where you are needed. It will be one of the many changes that will be made to your current method of operations. As I stated before, we need to keep Chuck involved with his family and friends. We plan on keeping the castle operational and staffed with Agents that Walker and Casey hand pick. That's the reason they have to report in on the 25th"

"Did this answer your question from earlier Major Casey?"

"Yes Ma'am"

Checking around the table to be sure the Agents are still with her she continues, "When intelligence is uncovered out there that pertains to Fulcrum or any other of the rogue cells or know enemies we may need your help. You will fly back and join up with the teams in place to eliminate the cell. Trips back here will be made often using the guise of business trips. With Chucks cover being a wealthy investor, he will have business contacts all over the states. Plus it will allow him to visit his sister and whomever else he chooses."

"The other thing I was enlightened about was the importance of family. When it was pointed out to us from past mission files, an unacceptable number of missions failed, or were less than successful due to the lack of family interaction. Some of those involved you, Sarah didn't they?"

"Yes" Sarah replies thinking of one of her missions that had gone south. It had failed because she and Bryce were undercover as a married couple trying to get information on a drug cartel. They had repeatedly been asked to attend social functions that involved family members. The leaders grew suspicious when they were constantly rebuffed with the answer of we aren't close to them. When the tensions got to high and they thought they had been discovered she had no choice but to scrub the mission.

"To prevent that from happening again on this mission, we will require a full disclosure to your family. You have our permission to inform your sister and her husband that you work for us. Use caution and do not reveal the intersect to them. Make sure they understand the importance of what you do. They have already been cleared and will need to come in and sign the standard non-disclosure statements."

"One last thing Chuck, there are a lot of very good hospitals near Philadelphia. Should you find yourself missing Ellie and Devon too much, we could arrange to have them moved out there and be a part of the team behind the scene. It would be good to have a couple of doctors on call that we can trust. That's all people let's make it happen, dismissed." The General rises from the table and exits the castle escorted by her security detail.

As soon as the General exits the castle Sarah throws herself at Chuck, wrapping her legs around his waist and arms around his neck. Chuck response is immediate. He grabs her waist pulling her closer and crashing his lips against hers. It not any kiss, it's a kiss that releases all the emotion they have been denying each other for months. As they break apart they hear a loud grunt then Casey's voice "Get a room you two, you deserve it! Now can somebody please explain WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?"

"Casey I have no frigging idea, but if you think for one minute I'm going to try and find out you're out of your ever loving mind!" screams an excited Chuck "I finally have the ok to be with the woman I love more than life itself. And on top of that I can stop lying to Ellie. So if you actually think I care if Beckman slipped a gear or went bat shit crazy, you're nuttier than she is! As an added bonus Ellie and Devon may be able to join us. I need to take all of this in. Then we can tell them everything at a later date."

Sarah's body still wrapped around Chuck just burrowed her face deeper in his neck and laughs. Not a small giggle, but a full throated belly laugh, the kind that makes your ribs hurt and brings tears to your eyes when you're done. Chuck knows this is the best sound he has ever heard. He pulls back so he can look at the woman he loves and is rewarded by the smiling face of one Sarah Walker.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Disclosure**

A/N: Still don't own Chuck or STV. I'm just playing in their sandbox but I'll put them back when I'm done. All OFC's are mine.

**24 September 2008**

**LAX Airport**

"Are you ok Chuck?" Sarah asks Chuck as they are walking away from dropping of their bags at the check in counter.

"Is it that obvious, or is it just that obvious to the woman that I love is that in tune to me."

"Ok Chuck, that's a nice try to avoid the subject. What's wrong?"

"I'm just a little nervous to be heading to Langley. We have come so far and I don't want to blow it."

Sarah touched his arm for a second, and then turned him to look at her. "Chuck, you can do anything. I know you will do great."

Chuck took a deep breath and smiled and said, "Thanks babe."

Casey pushes past them with a grunt.

**Langley Virginia**

"I didn't think that filling out paperwork, and picking out agents would take this long."

"As a moron, I mean asset, you missed most of the paperwork Bartowski."

"Yeah well I need a favor." When both Sarah and Casey looked at him Chuck said "I want to get Ellie and Awesome a souvenir or two." _There is no way I'll tell them what I really want to do._

Sarah thought for a second and said "No problem Chuck, I have a friend who can escort you around while we finish up in here. _Even though Bill is retired from the field, he should be good enough escort Chuck. Besides I trust him. _She picks up the nearest phone and places her call,

"Bill, I need a favor, and I hope you can help."

"Sarah, it's been a long time since I have heard from you. What can I do for you?"

"My boyfriend wants to do some souvenir shopping for his family. Do you think you can escort him around town?"

"That shouldn't be a problem. Tell him I'll be in the lobby in a few minutes to pick him up."

"Thanks Bill I owe you one for this."

It wasn't long before the Chuck and Bill were meeting up in the lobby and heading out to the stores. Once they were away from headquarters Chuck began to tell Bill his plans,

"I am going to be asking Sarah to marry me soon, and I need a ring," Chuck began, "the problem is, I need it before I head home. I figure that since we use wedding sets as part of our covers, the CIA must have someone make them. Do you know or can you find out who makes the jewelry we use?"

"To easy Chuck" answered Bill. "I know someone in what we nicknamed 'the props department' that can help out. Let me check with him real quick." Several minutes and a couple calls later Bill has the information Chuck needs.

"You got lucky Chuck; we use a place that's about twenty minutes from here. I called my boss to ask for an early lunch to take you shopping, he said not to worry. It seems it's been cleared by the higher ups to assist you any way we can. Best part is I don't have to clock out, so we can get lunch as well."

It was a short drive to the nondescript looking jewelry called Jen's House of Jewelry. They went inside where they were greeted by a middle aged woman. "Welcome to my store gentlemen how can I help you?"

"Hi, my name is Chuck and he's Bill. I'm look for an engagement ring. Problem is I need it today. These are the stones I want to use, can you help?" Chuck hands Jen a piece of paper with the required stones on it.

"She must be a very special woman." Barely audibly she mumbled "I wish mine would realize that." She took a breath and continued a little louder,

"You're in luck, we handle rush jobs in here all the time. I have a large selection of the stones you asked about, and some very nice rings to mount them on. Why don't you have a seat, and I'll get them together and we'll see what we can come up with." Jen motions them to sit down, and heads to the back to get what she needs.

It takes about an hour but Chuck finally puts together what he feels is the perfect ring for Sarah. Jen tells him it will take her a couple of hours or so to mount and clean the stones, and they should go and have lunch. Bill and Chuck decide that it will be best to pay for the ring now, go eat, then pick up the ring and get back to work. Several hours later Chucks first mission as a real spy is complete.

Sarah and Casey spent their first day getting recommendations from the department heads on who they believed were their best people. The next couple of days were spent pouring over files of the perspective personal they might be using on their team. Some would remain in their current posts, while some would have to transfer to a new location. While they were doing that Chuck received an intersect download. At the end of the three days they headed back to Burbank.

1 Oct 2008

General Beckman called for a briefing to go over a new mission. It would be a fairly easy one. They simply had to get into an office building and plant a few bugs. They left the castle and headed their separate ways, Casey headed back to the Buy More to start his shift and Sarah and Chuck headed for Casa Bartowski. "Hey Sarah, lets head to the beach and just relax a bit. We have some down time before the mission, and I want to spend it with you alone."

"Sounds great Chuck, Let's get some food, and have a picnic."

"You are reading my mind."

Sarah and Chuck sat on the beach relaxing after their meal. Sarah was sitting between Chuck's legs with her back nestled against his chest. His arms were wrapped securely around her pulling her close as possible, her hands gently caressing his arms.

Sarah couldn't remember feeling this relaxed or happy. She could feel the rise and fall of Chuck's chest against her back begin to increase, and his arms began to warm to her touch.

"Chuck, Is everything ok, you're not having trouble with the new download are you? Maybe we should call the Doc?"

"Sarah, that's not what the problem is."

"Then what's wrong baby?"

"I'm fine, really Sarah. I hate to ask but can I stand up for a moment so I can get out my phone. I need to call Ellie and let her know we will be there for dinner." Sarah slid off Chucks lap and onto the blanket letting out a contented sigh and nodded lazily.

After completing the call Chuck turned to face Sarah and sat in front of her. He took Sarah's hand slowly, and he teasingly brought it to his mouth and kissed each finger. Sarah closed her eyes and inched closer to where he had kneeled down. When he got to the third finger on her left hand he slid his surprise on it. Sarah felt something cool sliding on her finger.

Hers eyes snapped open and she gasped. Resting on her finger was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. A two carat princess cut diamond sat nestled on a band of platinum. Around the band were alternating Amethyst and Ruby stones. Sarah felt tears starting to form in her eyes and for the first time she could remember, she willingly let them fall. She knew this was a ring meant only for her. Chuck had it made special, a one of a kind. Knowing this made her love him just a little bit more. She wondered not for the first time_, How did I get so lucky?_

"Sarah, I have been in love with you since the first time I saw you," he began. "Without you I would not be where I am today. You brought me out of my self induced depression and self pity of five years. Gave meaning to my life again, and made me realize my true potential. This ring symbolizes what you mean to me. Each stone has a meaning, some have more than one. The diamond represents strength and eternity. You are my strength, and I want to spend eternity with you. The amethyst means protection. You are my protector and I now give you my heart to protect. The ruby signifies love. I love you Sarah Walker, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" as he finished he could feel Sarah as she sobbed faintly against his chest.

Sarah was enthralled by his words; never in her wildest imagination did she expect to get to this point in her life. She had a lousy childhood bouncing from place to place. Then joining the CIA further stripped of her humanity and hardened her heart even more. She realized for the second time in as many days that all of that was washed away by one curly haired man with a heart of gold.

Scooting around to face him she takes both his hands in hers and stares into is dark brown eyes. "When I started this assignment I was a broken human being, a cold heartless bitch that did not care if she survived the next mission. I had no respect for myself or other people. I erected a wall around my heart and vowed not to let anyone in so I could not get hurt. I was sinking into the abyss with no hope of getting out. Then I got to know you as a person and not just an asset to protect. Slowly, very slowly, you wormed your way into my life and my heart. Like the ocean we enjoy watching slowly erodes the sand, you did the same to those walls. Slowly chipping them away and carrying the pieces off. I wonder every day how I got so lucky with you. Chuck you saved my life and restored my soul. For that alone I am grateful, so Chuck the answer is yes. I would like nothing more than to be Mrs. Charles Bartowski."

As she was finishing she leans in and gives him a kiss. It wasn't hard, forceful and full of passion. It was soft and tender, the kind of kiss that conveys all the love and respect one has. Breaking the kiss she sees in his eyes all the love he has for her and she knows as sure as the sun will set and the moon will rise, the same can be found in hers. They sat awhile longer just enjoying the warmth of each other that had been denied them so long. As the sun started to set they picked up and headed to Chuck's for dinner with Ellie and Devon.

"Sarah this is going to sound funny but you have ear plugs in here?"

"Huh, why do you need them?"

"You're a spy, you figure it out." After seeing Sarah's expression Chuck continued. "Ellie plus engagement is bound to equal a squeal that will send every dog in the area running for cover, and Casey bursting through the front door. We can also use this as a good time to tell them about my joining the CIA" Chuck was hardly able to control his laughter while getting this out.

"Oh. my. God. Chuck! Ellie is going to freak!"

"Try telling me something I don't know. Then we have to follow it up with the whole full disclosure thing. I'm worried how Ellie will take it?" just a hint of nerves creeping into his voice.

"Don't worry Chuck if we can turn the cast iron bitch, known as Beckman, we can handle your sister." A giggle erupted from her, as she pictured Ellie's reaction. "I wonder how long it will take her to notice."

"Not long I'm sure." he reasoned "We're here. Shall we my lovely bride to be?"

"Yes, my wonderful fiancée, let's go and face the squeal!" _it feels so good to be able to say that. This has been the best week of my life, and it is only going to get better._

They walked to the apartment holding hands, not wanting to separate from each other. Entering they saw Ellie in the kitchen fixing dinner and Devon on the couch watching the ESPN. "Ellie we're back. How much longer before we eat?"

"Not long Chuck I'm just finishing up. Hey Sarah glad you could join us." Ellie moved onto the living area and continued "We never got to out the other night. Wanna cash in the rain che…." The words died on her lips. Sarah had unconsciously brushed a fallen strand of hair off her face using her left hand. The glint of the ring was captured by Ellie almost immediately.

"OH MY GOD!…..Sarah? Chuck? When? How? I'm so excited for you! Congratulations! LET ME SEE!" this was all said as Ellie practically flew to the couple embracing the pair in bone crushing hugs. Chuck was right, the squeal the erupted from his sister almost made his ears ring. She was in such a euphoric state, that her words were coming out in a rapid stream.

"Ellie, relax. Sarah and I will tell you everything over dinner. For now, let's just eat."

"Way to go Chuckster! Congratulations Sarah, Welcome to the family!" beamed Devon as he hugged the couple.

The couples moved to the dining area and started eating. The newly engaged couple explained the events of the day. Despite the relaxed and joyous setting, Sarah and Chuck felt a bit nervous because they were about to tell Ellie and Devon about their true jobs. Looking at each other they had a conversation without words, something only people truly in love can do. When Chuck slightly nodded Sarah went first.

"Ellie, I need you to know that I love your brother very much," Sarah began, "He has always been my strength when I need it, my shining light when I slip into the dark pit of despair. He means more to me than anything else in the world. I was never much good at showing my emotions, but being with your brother has changed me. You need to believe me when I tell you this. I love you and Devon like a brother and sister, I see you as family; something I never had growing up. Chuck's been given the ok to tell you about what has been going on since I came here. It should clear up why our relationship always appeared to be mixed up. Ellie, no matter what you hear next you can rest assured this is real. I love your brother with all my heart." Sarah just looked at Chuck and nodded her head.

"Ok here's the thing" his voice was trembling, and he was shaking slightly as he spoke, partly from nervousness, but mostly from the fear of Ellie's reaction. "Awhile ago I was given the opportunity to serve our country" _not like I had a choice _"While I was at Stanford the CIA was looking to recruit people to join them. They hid specialized tests within the normal tests we were given in certain classes. Somehow my test scores got lost somewhere along the highway. During the summer of 2007 many of the misplaced records were found. The CIA finally got around to evaluating how I did on those tests. They found I have a unique ability to process intelligence data. Sarah was sent here to offer me a job, working for the CIA."

_My man is learning fast. He just gave them enough information about what he can do, but never brought up the intersect, amazing. _

Ellie's reaction was one of complete and shock followed by disbelief. _Chuck working for the CIA and Sarah as well, holy shit! Wait, what about, John he got here around the same time._ Her eyes felt like they were going to pop out of their sockets.

Devon's reaction was almost the same, if his large as saucers eyes were any indication. _Chuck's in the CIA, guess he's not still working on his five year plan._

Chuck was somewhat relieved by the couples reaction even though he was still trembling a little_. I haven't been hit yet_. _That's a plus._

"Shortly after I accepted, because of my unique ability to process data, the CIA and NSA came up with a pilot program. Since 9/11 the intelligence communities were trying to share information more freely than they had in the past. I am part of that pilot program. They would take an agent from each agency and team them up with an analyst, in this case me. The CIA told Sarah to stay and the NSA sent Major John Casey."

By now both Devon's and Ellie's heads were spinning. Neither one had yet to completely wrap their heads around the idea the Sarah, let alone Chuck, were working with the CIA. Now they just learned that their neighbor John was with the NSA. _This has got to be dream,_ went through their minds.

"Nobody can know about me, so you to need to keep this between us. In their infinite wisdom, they figured the best way for us to fly under the radar, and keep me safe would be to have Sarah pose as my girlfriend. My first thoughts were that the CIA and NSA are nuts. Who would ever believe that someone that looks like Sarah would be interested in anyone like me. Now that we are getting married, I think they must have known something all along!"

Chuck noticed Ellie getting ready to speak so he held up his hands to forestall any questions that might come up, "Guys I am very good at what I do, you could say I am one of a kind. There are a lot of bad guys no longer out there because of what we do. That's why you catch me coming and going at weird times. It's also the reason I had those injuries I could not explain. Due to some archaic guidelines in use by the CIA and NSA; analysts like me cannot get into romantic relationships with agents like Sarah."

_Well that explains a lot _mused Ellie_._

"So we had to keep our feelings hidden, while we pretended to date. A couple of days ago I was given full agent status." This made Ellie's eyes grow even larger. She had just started calming down from the first shock. "We will be leaving soon on a mission that I cannot tell you about, but I will be able to come and visit and you can come and see me. The job offer I got in the mail yesterday is my cover. So when people ask why I moved you can tell them a legitimate reason. Feel free to ask us any questions, but keep in mind we probably won't answer many."

"Wow" was the first thing Ellie could make herself say "is it dangerous? Chuck you could be hurt or killed. What were you thinking?"

"Yeah sis it can be at times. But it's not that bad. I have Sarah and Casey to watch and protect me. Mostly I just point out the bad guys, and let the team take care of them. I just stay in the car." _If Ellie ever found out the truth, it would Not Be Good_. "I plan to tell Morgan about my new job as a programmer, but not the real one with the CIA. He may be my best buddy, but he can be an idiot, and he's bound to say the wrong thing to the wrong person." The last part got a laugh from everyone. Maybe they laughed a little too hard, but the tension was gone.

Chuck showed them the letter that would explain his cover job, and passed it to Ellie to have her read it later. He decided to give her the cliff's notes version until she had time to read it "I got a job offer to be a software engineer for the Government. It's the cover for why we have to move to Philadelphia by the end of next month. You already know the real reason."

Ellie took a cleansing breath and her words got stronger as she stated. "Sarah, I know you love my brother; I could see it for a long time. I would like to thank you for taking care of my brother. I have been doing it for years, just not against bad guys. I never could figure out why two people so obviously in love, never got to the next step." Seeing the worried look on Sarah, Ellie continued on "I may not like what went on between you two but, I can understand it. So are we in any danger?"

It was Sarah's turn to chip in. "We don't believe so, but to make sure, there will be several teams of agents moving in here. One team will move into Casey's old place, and several will be in the same complex. You two will be given files on each team so you know them. Contact them if anything out of the ordinary happens, and they will handle it. Also with Chuck being gone, the threat level should decrease. With the engagement, I will be living here as well. It's about time don't ya think Chuck?" his reaction was immediate; he pulled Sarah into a searing kiss and hugger her tight._ When did we discuss moving in together? Wait. Who the hell cares! I am with Sarah and we're getting married, so what if she decides we're going to live together. It's not like I'm gonna say no. Damn, I'm one lucky bastard!_

"What I don't understand is why you need to move away. Can't you guys just stay and have Chuck analyze the data from here?" Ellie was trying to get a better feel for Chuck's job.

"Not really." Sarah paused a second to gather her thoughts on how Chuck did his job. "Chuck needs to see the people in question before he can put all the information together. Also, because Chuck is has reached full agent status, he needs to be trained as one. Needless to say most of the training locations are near Langley."

**Gabriel's Origin**

2 Oct 2008

Gabriel was sitting around the conference room at his head quarters with his department heads. "Tomorrow we start the biggest covert mission our team has ever had. If we fail it will be the end of everything we know and stand for. All our lives depend on the success of us completing this mission. Only Sirella, Doc and I know the real reason we are here. You were briefed before you left that we came here to study earth's history, and attempt to fill in the gaps left after the Great War. That is not the case." Gabriel paused to allow his people to digest what they had just been told.

"We have been tasked by our Queen and Kahless to save not only the Borg Collective, but the Klingon Empire as well. What I am about to show you, will explain all you need to know about why we are here, and what the mission is. The information revealed to you today, can never leave this room. Only the Queen, Princess and the upper layer of the Hive mind know the truth about me." The massive screen turned on, and the events unfolded before them.

(here is the universe borrowed from H.W.'s Princess)

Unimatrix 01 is the largest starship know in all four quadrants, home of the Borg Queen Seven of Nine, and her Mate B'Elanna Torres, was quietly cruising towards Borg space located deep in the heart of the Delta quadrant. The Borg had just finished a lengthy negation in the Gamma quadrant that finalized yet another species joining the Borg collective.

Several years prior, the former Queen had been killed, and no other replacement drones were left. The Borg had attempted to lure Seven of Nine back to the collective, because Seven was the last of the replacement drones. Seven agreed to return to the Borg as long as the USS Voyager was left alone. B'Elanna convinced the hive mind to allow Seven to behave as an individual by informing them that if all they wanted Seven to be was another mindless drone; they really didn't need her as the Queen.

Seven brought sweeping changes to the Collective, the most important being the Borg no longer assimilated new species into the collective. Instead they asked any species the hive thought would add to the perfection of the collective to become vassal territories of the Borg Collective. Members of these species would volunteer for a period of years and act as individuals. The Borg got the distinctiveness they wanted and the species got the protection of the Borg collective. The Borg eventually formed an alliance with the Sill, a species residing in fluidic space, where stable Omega molecules could be found. The Omega molecule is the most powerful source of energy known. A small string of Omega Molecules is capable of supplying all the power requirements for any major city, for an indefinite period of time. These combined factors made the Borg the most powerful entity in all four quadrants.

Seven and B'Elanna were chatting quietly in their quarters when the combined voices of the Hive mind came over their Borg link. _Our Queen, there has been a temporal incursion in grid 2375. From what we can tell the end date is around 2003 on the old earth calendar._

"Do we know what was the caused the rift," questioned Seven.

_Yes our queen, it seems that a rouge group of Gallian's, a species of shape shifters, not satisfied with the alliance with us, stole a time ship and headed back in time._

"Have we been able to assess their reasons?" B'Elanna joined in.

_They know our Queen is from Earth, they are under the belief if they went back far enough in time and changed the time line, Seven would never be born or assimilated._

"_If_ that happened, I would not have been able to change the Borg. There would be no alliance with the Gillian's, so they would be free to continue their conquest of neighboring sectors." Seven deduced "The Dominion would defeat the Federation and Kiligon Empire. We cannot allow that to happen."

"Damn right we can't!" B'Elanna shouted "If they succeed, I would never meet you. We need to stop their plan." Pausing she addresses the collective, "What are our options?" B'Elanna chose to let the collective make the plan because several species had been using time travel and were better suited for the task.

_Send in Gabriel, he is a Terran from that time period. He has contacts there that will prove useful on the mission. He knows the society, and he will have the easiest time adapting. He will have a major advantage being familiar with the primitive technology of the time. With our technology, he can remain virtually undetected, as he researches the archives and data bases of the intelligence agencies in existence. _

"The Hive is right Seven. He is our best option. We'll need to upgrade his implants to the newest ones we have. He's like you in that regard, wearing his old implants with pride. He would stick out with the implant over his right eye and right hand covered in mesh." As she started to call for him over the link, a thought came to her. "Hey Babe you know he's not going to leave his wife behind, and you can sure as Gre'Thor, bet they have never seen a Kiligon before! We will have to send a team with them as well."

Sevens quirked her left eyebrow causing her optical implant to rise and tilted her head in her typical manner "Correct, for her to go, we will need to alter her features to human standards. It is something she has done before to go on missions. I will contact them now. I will also have the Hive assemble us a team of humans to send along with them."

"I would like to send some our friends from Voyager along with them. Tom Paris has always been fascinated by that time period, and if goes, Harry Kim will have to as well. Samantha and Naomi Wildman, will want to go as well. Hive do they meet your approval?"

_Yes our Princess._

Seven called Gabriel and his wife, Sirella, to her conference room and explained the situation and his mission with its importance to this universe. For the first time, in what seemed like forever, he felt his face pale. One thought was running through his mind, _home_. The one place he thought he would never see again, long deceased relatives would be alive, parents, sisters, sons and grandchildren. This single thought brought the greatest warrior of the modern Klingon Empire to his knees. Sirella rushed to his side, and grabbed him in a crushing embrace, offering him what comfort she could. Wrapped up in his wife's arms he thinks back to how he got here.

His story and history was probably the strangest of all the drones. Gabriel, the best operative the collective has. Even with the Borg's assimilated knowledge, there were still times where intelligence gathering missions were needed. Gabriel is a human male who had been with the collective only a year and a half.

He was born on earth in the year 1960, enlisted in the Army at 19. He served with honor during tours in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Primarily a member of the Army's Special Forces, he was occasionally loaned to the Navy SEAL's. Several years into his enlistment, he was recruited by the CIA, but remained with his unit. He completed many covert missions with the Army's Special Forces and Navy Seals. He was awarded the Silver and Bronze Stars, along with other combat medals for his actions under fire. By all accounts he was the recruiting poster for heroes.

Then in June of 2007, his life changed forever, his unit had been tasked to provide tactical communications for a Brigade training to deploy to Iraq. While he was monitoring the communications site a temporal anomaly occurred and sent him into the future. The first thing he could remember when he woke up was the strange place he found himself in. He was having trouble adjusting his eyes, and his hand felt strange. Strange beings surrounded him; they had forehead ridges and long hair, dressed in some kind of weird armor. He was told they were Klingons, a proud warrior race bound by honor. With the help of Federation doctors that had experience with Borg implants; they removed what implants they could, and left the rest. After spending time with his human counter parts, he opted to return to the Klingon Empire. He loudly declared the humans in the Federation were weak, and had no honor, unlike the people he was used to serving with.

He put all his time and effort into studying the Klingon culture in hopes he would be accepted as a Kiligon. It was during his training that he met Sirella; they fell in love, and took the Great Oath. Throughout his training he continually bested his instructors. He was assigned to an Elite Special Forces unit. During a heavy ground battle where many Klingons were lost, he led his troops to victory. It was after this battle he was declared the greatest Klingon warrior of the modern age, even he understood that Kahlass would always be number one to the Klingons.

A few weeks after his unit's incredible victory, he ran a combat simulation program in one of the holodecks to further improve his skills as a warrior. When the training was complete he returned to his quarters to regenerate and reunite with his wife. When the cycle ended he found himself on Unimatrix 01 looking at the Borg Queen, Seven of Nine. Seven explained to him that he just materialized in the royal holodeck with his wife, a Kiligon, and had to be stunned after he disabled her two best Royal Guards.

He was assigned as a trainer for the Royal Guards. During one particularly grueling training session that was being attended by Seven, B'Elanna and Sirella and a host of their friends, Kahless the Unforgettable appeared before them wielding a bat'leth and wearing the renowned Klingon armor, poised and ready to strike.

"Human what give you the right to call yourself a Klingon!" he asked a deep throaty growl erupting from deep within his chest.

Gabriel stood tall and proud before the greatest Klingon to ever live. He answered back, "I have completed The Rites of Ascension, the Rites of Passage, I have fought with Honor defending the Klingon Empire, I took the Sacred Oath with a Klingon Woman and was accepted into her house."

"You have been compared to me in Battle, Human; let's put it to the test. A friendly bat'leth fight, first one to yield does the others bidding."

"I do not need to yield to do your bidding, I do it with Honor."

Kahless turns to the people in the room, and looks directly into B'Elanna's eyes, "B'Elanna Torres, Daughter of Miral, Warrior of the Klingon Empire you have brought much honor to your house and my empire; you will be the judge of our battle. Seven of Nine, Annika Hansen, Queen of Borg; mate of B'Elanna you have also brought great Honor to my Empire. You made them see that Klingons should unite as a people not stay apart in houses. Sirella daughter of Mabli, house of Martok, Mate of Gabriel. you chose well for a mate. He is Klingon in every way but in body." Hearing their names said by Kahless caused B'Elanna and Sirella swell with pride knowing the Kahless the Great knew who they were.

"The battle begins now, human" Kahless growled and launched his first attack on Gabriel. It was a series of thrusts and parries intended to assess his opponent's skills. Gabriel matched him with defense, leaving small openings that Kahless could attack. Each time Kahless attacked Gabriel countered deflecting his blows with ease.

"Kahless you disappoint me. You couldn't kill a targh with the way you attack." During a bat'leth fight it was not uncommon for Klingons to hurl insults at each other. They believed it added to the fun of the fight.

"You have learned well, Human" Kahless snapped back with a growl of distain.

The fight turned more heated as the time past. For the people in the stands the two warriors became a blur of motion. There was no wasted energy as the two attacked or defended. One move smoothly transitioned into another, and only because of her Borg enhance eye, could Seven even follow blow for blow. The noise the bat'leths at some points became almost deafening, and on several occasions sparks could be seen at times when the weapons connected.

The fight had raged on for almost two hours with the insults freely flying from one combatant to the other, when Kahless made his final comment before getting ready to make his final assault, "I fought my brother for twelve days because he dishonored my house. You are chaos and disorder you cannot win" telling a member of the Borg Collective they were Chaos was just about the worst thing you could say.

Gabriel readying his bat'leth growled back, "You will not need to fight me for twelve days for I have not dishonored your empire. I AM Chaos because I AM an American fighting man, I AM an American Soldier."

Gabriel and Kahless swung their bat'leths with as much power as they could muster. The blades flashed towards each other's heads with the intent of removing the head from the body. At the last split second each fighter changed to angle of the attack to make sure the blow would not be fatal. Both blades smashed together shattering them in two. The sound that was made on impact had more than one person in the audience just back in surprise. Both warriors looked at each other in admiration and exchanged the ritual head butt that often occurred after a friendly fight.

"B'Elanna Torres, we await your decision" Growled Kahless.

B'Elanna stood from where she had been sitting and took a long look around the room before addressing Kahless, "We have just witnessed the greatest bat'leth fight in the history of the Empire. It would not be honorable for me to pick a winner when the rule was the victor would be the one who forced his opponent to yield. It is my decision to declare the fight a draw between the two greatest warriors the Empire has ever had. Dun Suv Kahless and Gabriel."

"Seven and B'Elanna, a great injustice is about to take place that will affect both my Empire and the Collective. Gabriel, you have not asked for greatness, but had it trusted upon you. The Queen and I both need you to stop what has already been put in motion. I cannot revel what it is to you, just know it will become known shortly."

"Kahless the Unforgettable, when I became Klingon, I took an oath to uphold all that being Klingon entails, including giving my life for the Empire. When the time comes, I will gladly bear this burden."

Sirella rose to her feet and joined her husband, "I am Sirella daughter of Mabli, Warrior of the Klingon Empire, house of Martok, Mate of Gabriel. I stand by husband as he answers your call."

Seven rose and stood next to her wife, "The Klingons are Honorable people and so are the Borg. You have our word as the Queen and Princess of Borg that we can and will offer any assistance we can to Gabriel and Sirella."

"Good" said Kahless as he bent down to pick up his broken bat'leth which became whole as the broken ends met. "Now we need to eat and drink! Bring me some Blood Wine" this time his growl was filled with amusement as a large table laden with glasses of blood wine and Klingon delicacies appeared before them.

"Gabriel, with the honor you have brought to my Empire, I will give you and your mate something that most Humans would want." He clasped Gabriel and Sirella on the shoulders and spoke softly into their ears. Their shoulders ached where he had touched them leaving behind a mark shaped like the first bat'leth.

"You now bear my mark. You have been granted the gift of youth. I have returned you to the age of twenty five." He looked all the people in the room and raised his glass of blood wine. "QAPLA! Gabriel and Sirella my you bring great honor to my Empire."

Plans were made, surgeries completed, and soon it was time to head out. The small team that had been picked by the Hive would accompany them to supply support and maintenance on their Borg systems. They would find a remote uninhabited place on Earth to set up. Power was not a problem as they would use the Omega molecule as a power source. A small shuttle was modified to be used for the trip and also act as the home base. Once they cleared Unimatrix 01, they engaged the temporal drive, and headed back to Earth, the year 2003.

**The mission begins**

Due to the unique nature of the Gillian's ability to not only change shapes, but match the DNA of the species they mimicked, it rendered scanning for them almost impossible. The one advantage his team would have, was the Gillian's had to leave a bit of their DNA mixed with the human DNA. The team would need to use Gabriel's knowledge of the time to get integrated into the American system. Getting a grasp on the language was the hardest part. Federation standard differed vastly from the English of the 21st century. Only Gabriel had that knowledge, having spent almost fifty years in this time period. They assimilated several people of importance to gain classified information from. It was only partial assimilation, and once the information was assimilated they were returned to normal, only better. All the people they chose were suffering from terminal illnesses, so they programmed the nanoprobes they injected them with to heal them and remove the genetic markers that were responsible for their conditions. With this information, it made it easier for them to start infiltrating the various intelligence agencies in the United States and around the world.

The team then began setting up small bases around the United States. They set up their communication network and began looking for any information they would find useful. The first thing they needed to do was get into the data bases of all the major intelligence organizations that existed. Once they had hacked into the intelligence system it was easy for them to search for the data they needed. During this time Gabriel, using a different appearance began to get close to General Beckman of the NSA. After nearly 2 years of work they finally got a hit.

Reports started coming in about a rogue group of spies calling themselves Fulcrum. Fulcrum, is one of the few words in the Gillian language that could roughly be translated to English. Fulcrum, in Gillian, meant _time change_. In mid 2007, they noticed an upswing in activity by Fulcrum. They also discovered a small team in California that was waging its own war against them. Not many details were in the system, just that it was a joint CIA, NSA team. They began tracing the communications until the identities of the team were known. It was a small team composed of two males and a female, reporting to Diane Beckman of the NSA and Director Graham of the CIA. On the 1st of September 2008, they felt they had all the information they needed to go ahead with their plan.

**A/N 2:** Dun Suv- great fight

Qapla- success


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Prelude to the Wedding**

A/N: See Chapter 1 please review It can only help me get better as a writer. Thanks to BDaddyDL for his Beta work and fixing my mistakes.

3 Oct 2008

Several days after the party, the team's lives and dynamics took a drastic change. They had been called to castle by the General for a follow up brief on the Intel gleaned from the security tapes, and Chuck's latest series of flashes. Taking their seats around the table they awaited the General. Chuck was seated in the middle with Sarah on his left and Casey to his right. The screen flickered to life and all three agents passed out. Their heads were guided gently to the table by unseen persons. The General came on, and the sight she was greeted with sent cold tendrils of fear and dread up her spine. _Are they dead? Damn, I hope not. Why are they laid out on the desk? _Her questions were answered in short order when Gabriel appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, accompanied by a woman she had never seen before.

"Major General Beckman it is a pleasure to meet you again. I would like you to meet my wife Sirella," Gabriel continued before Beckman could speak, "I see you got that promotion you weren't expecting. You surprised me with your effective handling of the Bartowski issue. I am glad you did not try to push me. As your agents saw, it would have been a very bad idea."

"I may not agree with you, but I'm not nuts. You got into and out of one of the most secure facilities we have. That would take more skill than anyone I know has." Her voice is flat and devoid of emotion.

"I said I would introduce myself to them on my time, and it's now that time." He stated with a complete lack of emotion "Your team is coming with me for a bit. Do not try to track them, or have us followed. Any attempt do so would be _unwise_ and end in the loss of the agents you send."

General Beckman knows she only has one answer. "Alright, we'll do it your way. I do have a question for you about the mission you are sending them on. I heard how you and your wife dispatched those other agents, why do you need our help?"

Seeing her husband's eyes start to cloud over and become dark as coal, she knew what was going to happen if she did not defuse the situation. "Babe, you need to relax. If you're going to work with these people, they need to understand what's going on," Sirella said while giving Gabriel's hand a squeeze.

"You are correct," he grants his wife. Turning back to the General, Gabriel begins to explain, "I need numbers, plain and simple. The organization we need to take down is large; it has people in many important positions. Some are in the Government, the military and some are even high ranking civilians. This enemy is really good at blending in. We will need to get close to them to disrupt their plans. With the events of the other night, we are on the way to doing that. As I explained before, it will take time, which I have a lot of." He pauses to glance at the agents still laying face down on the table.

"The team will not be out much longer, and we need to leave. I understand that while Casey and Sarah were at CIA headquarters, they supplied you with a group of candidates for their mission. Please send Casey and Walker the names of the agents and analysts you would feel comfortable have working with them on this mission. Let them make the final choice however. Again, all credit will go you and your team. When this is over, you should be getting your third star. Gabriel out." After he was finished, he cut the transmission.

Sirella chuckled at this, asking "Why did you do that?"

"Easy, she reminds me of a Captain I know."

"If it's the same Captain I know, she just needs to get laid," this got a laugh out of Gabriel.

"Well, that's what the Queen said cured Janeway," added Gabriel.

"Enough of that, we need to leave. I don't want to have to gas them again"

"Are you sure you want to play it this way?"

"I've done this to thousands before them. They need to be brought back to reality. It will be harsh but it's the only way it will work."

"Well you are the expert on these people," completed Sirella.

Sometime later, the three woke up at almost the same time. They looked at each other and were surprised to find themselves seated in large comfortable leather chairs. Chuck's eyes almost popped out of his head at the amount of electronics and computers in the room. He had never seen any equipment like this. Casey and Walker both wondered why they woke up with no ill effects of whatever drug they were given. Verifying with each other they were alright, they turned to face a large monitor. Well large being an understatement, it was huge, at least twenty feet by twenty feet. Standing in front of it with his back to them was a man. He stood about six feet tall broad shoulders; they could see the muscles rippling under his shirt. From his hair cut Casey assumed he was a Marine.

He paid them no attention, instead pulling up screen after screen of data. It was moving so fast the three could barely make out what it was. Finally, it stopped and pictures of Chuck's sister's place replaced the data. It was a live feed. They could see Devon and Ellie leaving and heading to her car. Sarah immediately went on the defensive, knowing she was still armed she began reaching for her knives.

"If your hand moves one more inch Walker, you'll be dead before you hit the ground!" growled the man, as he spun to face them. Sarah froze as she saw his face, never before had she seen such a feral look and ice cold eyes. It was Gabriel, she knew at that moment it was not an idol threat, she had seen him in action just days before.

Chuck seeing the danger to the love of his life, quickly grabbed her hand and squeezed. When Sarah looked up at Chuck he was silently imploring her to stop. Thankfully she dropped her hand, and faced her palms toward Gabriel in a sign of surrender.

"Relax Walker; you are too important to Chuck for me to kill you. Your death would kill you and Chuck, because we know he is not worth a shit without you." Gabriel's eyes had softened and his tone became lighter "I would like to congratulate you two on your upcoming marriage. It was an impressive proposal Chuck."

"WAIT, how did you know about that?" exclaimed Chuck.

"I have my ways, and how is none of your concern. As of now, you are under my protection, not the CIA or NSA. We are here to further define your roles in this mission, and get to know each other, understood?"

"Yes" the three responded

"Major Casey, let's start with you. Prior service, decent record, nothing special there. You enjoy weapons and gunplay. Loss of life does not bother you. You'd follow orders even if meant killing Chuck. As long as it is for the greater good, correct Major?"

"Yeah" Colonel John Casey replied with a grunt. Before he could blink, a hand was wrapped around his throat, and he found himself standing on his toes struggling to breath. Chuck backed away with a shocked look in his eyes, as Sarah shuffled in front of him. Casey found himself nose to nose with Gabriel whose eyes once again had turned black as coal. Gabriel growled out,

"I don't know who the hell you think you are, but let me tell you something you piece of shit. Where I come from a grunt can be taken as a sign of a challenge! DO YOU WANT TO CHALLANGE ME!" he screamed in a deep growl, "because if you do, I will accept, we will fight to the death, and you. Will. Die. That fact is not in question, what is in question is; are you man enough to back up that challenge?" by now the growling had gotten less and Gabriel's breathing had slowed.

He plowed ahead "You are the worst type of person Casey, you have deluded yourself into thinking you are something special. You berate Chuck at every chance you get because he does not meet the standard you set. For this team to work you need to get over yourself. I have read your files, and back tracked the information in it. Did you know that almost twenty percent of you victims were innocent people?" Casey's eyes got wide at this. _I always thought they were legitimate kills_

"Some of the people you killed were because they MAY cause a problem in the future. They never committed any crimes, and simply because some terrorist, or other interested party may get to them; kind of like Chuck. To Beckman and her predecessor, you are nothing but a tool to kill whoever they felt might be a danger in the future. Do you feel good about that Casey, that you follow orders blindly?" Gabriel paused to calm down

"I know a bit about orders myself Casey, and they have to fit into three parts to be ignored, first being is it lawful, and I don't give a crap about greater good. When did the murdering innocents, for the greater good, become legal? Second, is it immoral? And finally is it unethical? You have the right, NO, the DUTY to question your orders. This behavior of yours stops here and now. If you want to work with this team, think outside the box, and question crap out of things that don't make sense. You are getting a chance to be involved in something so important it pales anything you have ever done. So think about it," he released Casey and turned toward Sarah.

Sarah and Chuck were shocked to say the least. Seeing Casey manhandled was bad enough but hearing what he had done was not expected. Sarah started to get worried._ If he knew that about Casey, what does he know about me?_

Chuck knowing Sarah was next grasped her hand in support. She could see the unconditional support in his eyes.

"Walker your record is good as well. It shows you have well above average martial arts skills, are good at seduction, and use of knives. Don't be upset about the seduction comment. You deal with men, which mean we're easy. A beautiful woman like you shows up and starts talking to us and for almost all straight men that means it's almost over. Throw in some booze, and a lets go to my room and bingo, game on. I never figured out why they wasted so much time teaching the female agents how to seduce a man. I just did it in fifteen seconds. You tend to get involved with you partners. One was even long term if I read your file correctly." "

"Now about the parts, that like Casey was hidden from you. You think after Graham saved your life. That he gave you a life, after that dirt bag of a father ruined yours?" questioned Gabriel.

"Yes that is correct" Sarah answered timidly _oh God how bad will this get?_

"Did you know a number of those missions you went on with Bryce were staged? The ones you were told 'By any means necessary'? Graham knew you would never just sleep with somebody you did not care about, so he set you up. The information you two received was mostly fake, to keep you participating with your missions. So like Casey, do you still believe in doing anything for the greater good? You weren't the only one either. He did it to most of the young female agents."

Sarah paled at the information, feeling sick to her stomach. The room began to swim as dizziness took over. She was doing all she could to keep from fainting. Chuck immediately wrapped his arms around her for support, whispering over and over how much he loved her and it wasn't her fault. By now tears had begun to fall from her eyes blurring her vision. She knew if it wasn't for Chuck, she never would have been able to get through this. Casey also looked shocked at this information, while Chuck had his own tears flowing because of what happened to his best friend and the love of his life.

Outside Chuck was being as strong as he could be. _I need to strong for her. I knew she had slept with some of her marks because she thought it was her job. But this must be killing her. And the asshole Larkin first he screwed up Sarah's life then mine. And I almost wanted to forgive him. Well screw that!_

"That's why he tried to pair you back up with Bryce. I was appalled at what he was doing, so we took steps to make sure it never happened again. From this moment on Sarah, your days of flat backing it for the greater good are over."

_That mother fucker! How could he do that to me? He used me and turned me into a slut. He knew I hated sleeping with the marks. Damn how many times did I almost quit because of it. If he wasn't dead already I'd kill him. Thank you Gabriel you may seem cold and heartless, but thank you. _Sarah now gained a bit of her control spoke up in a shaky voice "How, how could you stop it? He was in control of all my ops until the beta intersect blew up and killed him?"

"Who do you think blew the fucking thing up? Ask Chuck what the possibilities of a computer system creating an explosion that blows out an entire floor of a secure building. You people cannot be that dumb to think a computer did all that. Of course, we made it look like Fulcrum did it," Replied Gabriel.

"Now, before I get to Chuck, I have an offer for you and Casey" as he was talking he made his way over to a chair and sat down. "I know you two are Agents and are probably wondering how I know this. Most of the information was kept in private files that were heavily encrypted. Well, by your standards anyways." He let out a chuckle at this. "All of this was also included in the first intersect Chuck downloaded, just the cues were hidden. I have the cues that will unlock the files in the intersect, so I will give them to you. If you want, let Chuck flash on them. As I said, I have an offer for you two. My doctor can give you a shot that will erase certain memories, the ones that cause you the most pain. All you'll remember is the missions and that you completed them, just not the finer details."

Just then, Sirella walked in and headed to towards them and sat down next to her husband at the table. "I know this is hard on the three of you to accept, but it has to be done. With this mission you will be headed to places Casey and Walker have been before. We reviewed the cues that would cause Chuck to flash. He will know which missions were faked. He will see all the information on those missions. You two did things on those missions you never would have done if you knew the true reasons. We thought you, and I mean Chuck and Sarah, deserved to be happy together. We feared if you find out the information during a mission it could destroy your relationship."

_Ok, this is just getting to weird for me. _Sarah thought before asking her question "How did you know what we feel about each other? We never said anything to each other until the other day?"

"Easy, we have been following you three since almost the first day, so it was not too hard. Besides whom do you think pushed that Bitch Beckman into letting you two be together?" Gabriel chimed in. "You and Casey have a lot to think about so let's get to Chuck."

_Well I'll be damned _thought Chuck and Sarah at the same time_ he seems like a cold hearted bastard, yet he did this. His eyes get a spark when he sees his wife. So he's a nice guy, but I still don't want to piss him off._

"You want the intersect out of your head, you love your sister, and want to keep her safe. You also want to keep your friends out of danger, and think killing is wrong, because the person that may die has a spouse and children, right Chuck?"

"Well umm yeah. I don't like the thought of killing anyone even for the greater good." Stated Chuck in strong even tone. Yet he was unglued inside.

"Well Chuck let me be the first to congratulate you on being the most self centered bastard in the world." Gone now was the normal tone he had been using minutes before, and replaced by one as cold as dry ice, and just as likely to burn.

"You have left the ones you love in constant danger by staying here. Fulcrum did not know it was you. They just knew someone was out there, and taking down Fulcrums' cells. You could have moved away or gone into a bunker. That would have kept them safe. But you were to self centered to think like that, you only cared about you. I'll miss Ellie, what about Morgan? I'll never see them again. When they ended up dead because you stayed, and they would have, what would you have done then. Seriously dude, Morgan?" he downs a glass of water before continuing on.

"What I can't understand is how your team was so successful? You work for a group of idiots. I'll explain what I mean. Sarah, you have been living in a hotel for the last year, you drive a Porsche which together is ok if you worked anywhere that pays more than minimum wage. You like the car, so what! Your only job here was to keep Chuck alive, not stick out like a sore thumb. At least they put Casey in an apartment. And you three geniuses couldn't figure that it screamed 'something is not right here' look at me!'"

"During the last couple of years we were keeping our eyes on you. Once we figured out what you are, we put some of our people on you Here's something you don't know. There have been almost forty attempts on your life. We stopped them all." he pauses to let this new information soak in. "Go ahead and argue if you want, but the bottom line is this. If you were working anywhere else, it would have taking much longer to connect the dots."

"Answer me this Chuck, all the people you love are on a boat rigged with explosives. The man holding the detonator is fifty feet away, finger ready to push the plunger. You can end it all with one shot. Do you take it or not? Do you let them all die to save one person that is going to kill more? Thousands died on September eleventh, would you have killed the terrorists that crashed the planes? Would you have let those terrorists live because they had families? What about all the families that would still have the ones they lost that day. That Chuck is what this is all about. You are a sci-fi fanatic do these words mean more now, 'the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.' We will never have you kill a person in cold blood. But you can bet your ass if you don't kill the people we are going after they will kill you without blinking an eye. So when you get the chance you better kill them"

Chuck sat back still holding on to Sarah. He knew Gabriel was right, that sometimes taking one life was worth it, he just hoped he could do it when the time came.

Sirella asked in a caring voice to the other members of the team. "Sarah and Casey what is your answer, will you let us help you get rid of the demons that plague your sleep. Or do you wish to continue on suffering with these demons that threaten your sanity? "

Chuck and Sarah were still holding hands as held a silent conversation with their eyes, before Chuck began to speak, "It's up to you. I will stand by you no matter what. I love you so much, and it makes me sick to think of what they made you do. I think it would be best for you to have them remove the memories." As he finished he gave her a short, but compassionate kiss that showed his love for his fiancée.

Sarah sighed, comforted by Chuck's words spoke "Ok, let's get these memories out of my head."

Casey was the next to respond "I may like gun play, but I never wanted to kill an innocent. I signed up to protect them. It pisses me off Beckman would use me like that. So I will do it also."

Chuck feeling brave added his voice to the decisions "Can you overwrite the data in my head so the cues go away? I don't have to know what missions they happened on, I already know they happened and that's enough for me."

"We already planned for that. Our people made a copy of the version you downloaded, and we then added a few extras of our own. They just make the flashes shorter and less painful. We have also added a few tactical planning routines to the mix. Now if Sarah and Casey would follow Sirella; I will take care of Chuck."

Sarah and Chuck looked back into each other's eyes as they slowly separated; both sets of eyes showing how much they wanted to stay close to each other as their hands slowly lost contact. An hour or so later, they were returned to the room they first woke up in. Chuck being well, Chuck asked a question that had been on everyone's mind since they got here "Not to seem rude or anything, but uh where are we, and who are you? Well I mean, who do you work for?"

"I will answer the second part of your question first. I use the name Gabriel in public, and it is not my real name by the way. I chose it because of what it means. The Archangel Gabriel has been referred to as the angel of death in some religions, so it seemed fitting. I will also go by Ghost on some missions we do. Whom do I work for? Let's just say we are an independent contractor who wants America to stay strong and free like it is now. We want to make the sacrifices of the men and women that came before us to not be forgotten; for they deserve no less from us." All Casey could think was _Amen brother._

"You are at our west coast head quarters. We have a better one back east. But our main location is well hidden where no one will find it. We only go there when we need to." He didn't mention the eight hours a week of regeneration to recharge and replenish his Borg systems he needed. "I doubt you will ever see it. All the Intel we get, we send there to be analyzed. We are only looking for specific pieces of information. All Intel will go to your agencies to be processed. We will rely on it almost all the time."

Gabriel and Sirella motioned to the door as they escorted the trio out of the briefing room. "We need to get you guys back before Ellie sends out a search party for you. We have had you here quite a while. We have a limo waiting to pick you up and take you home. Chuck, you need to call your sister and tell her you'll be home in a couple of hours. Have dinner on the way home. Reservations have been made, and the driver knows where to take you. Enjoy your dinner. When we need you again, we will contact you. Follow Beckman's plans; she may be a bitch sometimes, but her plan is good. Besides, she knows one screw up, and her ass belongs to me!"

"I have one last question for you Gabriel," stated Chuck "Why the hard ass approach at the beginning? You could have explained in a nicer way." Chuck heard Casey grunt at this and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"It was basic training 101 Chuck. You three were to secure in who you thought you were, not who you are. I had to get you down what you each considered to be your lowest or most uncertain level. Then I can build you back to where you need to be. When I get done with you three you will be the best team this country has ever seen." Gabriel finished as he walked them to the waiting limo.

Just before they got there Casey pulled him aside and spoke, "Chuck and Sarah, I'll see you later. I want to speak with Gabriel for a second." When the two were safely in the limo he pulled out a cigar and lit it then was ready to continue when Gabriel spoke up

"That's one thing I have missed, a cigar."

"A woman is a woman but a cigar is a smoke."

"Casey you know you're the backbone of your team.."

"Yeah, yeah, you had to break us down and rebuild. I don't like it but I get it," Casey added in.

Gabe and Casey looked at each other and nodded as Gabe went back inside.

The ride home was quiet with Sarah and Chuck still reeling over the events of the evening. Sarah was amazed, at the turn of events. First, she found out that Graham had been using her and other female agents to entertain his friends. Then the revelation that all those bad memories could be wiped out, and they were. She thought back to all missions, and she could not remember sleeping with any of the marks. She had hated that part of her job, and now she felt like a new person. Her only concern was how Chuck would react to what they had heard. So far he had been great, offering his love and support. He had gone as far as having the intersect reloaded, so he could not flash on anything that would reveal to him what she had done. She loved him for that, and for so much more. She felt his arm pull her closer, and she snuggled into him brushing her lips across his neck as she felt him shiver slightly at the gesture.

Chuck was concerned about what had transpired back Gabriel's head quarters. First he learned how Casey had been manipulated into killing innocents, then about Sarah's past missions. Her CIA boss had basically made her have sex with his friends in the guise of getting information. What scared him the most was when he found out all the information was stored in his head. What impressed him was the offer to have the intersect reloaded minus those details, and have some additional goodies installed. He loved that idea. He needed to relax so he pulled Sarah a little closer and she allowed it and brushed a kiss along his neck. The kiss caused him to shiver slightly as she snuggled closer.

When the trio arrived at the apartment complex Casey took his leave, and went to his place. Chuck and Sarah sat by the fountain, where they had so many times before. Sarah broke the silence "I am so sorry you had to find out what Graham made me do. I swear Chuck, I never knew." She was close to tears in worry that Chuck would now see her as damaged goods.

Chuck, being Chuck, responded in the only way he knew how "Sarah, I knew what you had to do on some missions. And even though I had trouble accepting it at first, I did. You were carrying out your orders, believing it was another mission. You had no way of knowing what he was doing to you. I love you Sarah, completely and forever. So why don't we go inside and pick a date to get married. Hell I'd get married tomorrow if I could."

Sarah's head snapped up "What did you say Chuck?"

"Umm, well ...I'd marry you tomorrow,"

"No Chuck not tomorrow, in two days! Ellie and Devon have off that day so we can drive to Vegas and get married! Let's go tell them!" Sarah jumped up and practically drug Chuck into the apartment.

Sarah flung open the door so hard it nearly knocked things off the shelves. Looking around for Ellie and Devon and not seeing them right away hollered "ELLIE, DEVON, get out here. We got news for you!" Chuck had never seen her like this;_ I thought she was all business in agent mode. This is worse, it's I'm a woman getting married mode. I hope I survive._

Sarah was on a roll and had to restrain her hands while waiting for Ellie to get into the living room, "You two have off in a couple days, so we decided to drive to Vegas and get married!"

The squeal that Ellie let loose almost broke the windows, and caused many small animals to run for cover. She ran over to the happy couple and engulfed them in a bone crushing hug at the same time "YES! We'll be there! Oh. My. God! This is great and so romantic." After she calmed down she asked "Are you sure, this is a bit sudden."

"Ellie I have never been so sure of anything else in my life ever! Even though we have been together for a short time, I have loved Chuck for so long. He has loved me even longer. Now that there is nothing stopping us from being together, why should we wait?"

"She's right Babe" chorused Devon as he was shaking Chuck hand. "You know what they had to deal with, so if they to do it in two days I support them. Since were spreading good news, Ellie and I had a great day as well. We got called into the administrator's office and were told that Johns Hopkins called. They wanted permission to offer us jobs with them, and we have to let them know by Friday."

"That's what we were talking about that when you walked in. Devon and I would have been worried about you out there doing what you do. Now we'll be close enough to visit every weekend, but far enough to not impose on a regular basis. It's like we have a guardian angel!" Ellie added with a small squeal.

"More like an archangel" snorted Chuck, soft enough so only Sarah could hear. Sarah could only roll her eyes.

"Since we are getting married in two days, let's go pick our wedding rings tomorrow. Tonight we'll go out to dinner and celebrate. It's on us of course." exclaimed Chuck.

"Well that's settled; tomorrow when we go to work, we tell them we decided to take the job at Johns Hopkins. The day after we drive to Vegas and get you too married," stated Devon.

They spent the hour or so asking questions and giving answers. Out of the blue a thought popped into Ellie's head "I am so sorry guys. You just decided to get married in a couple days, and we are sitting here talking about things that can wait. We need to take you up on your offer of dinner and celebrating," Ellie gushed.

"That's right babe. We need to get these two a drink, and let them relax," Devon said seconding the idea. They headed out to a restaurant, then to a club, and enjoyed a night of music and dancing. Pleasant conversations took place mostly revolving around the personal lives of the couple.

"Hey guys it's getting late and we have a lot to do tomorrow; so Sarah and I are going to head home, and get to bed. Good night guys." After saying good night, Chuck led Sarah back to Sarah's car, and headed home. When they arrived they headed straight to their room, and got ready for bed. The two got in bed, and burrowed under the covers getting as close as they could.

"Chuck I may not say I love you as much as you say it to me, but I do love you very much. You are the kindest man I know. Thank you for being there for me, and not holding my past against me." She whispered to him.

"I could never do that to you. I plan to make you happy and get you to smile at least once a day for the rest of our lives." He kissed her good night and they both drifted off to sleep.

Morning came and found them wrapped up in each other. After getting untangled, they got ready for the day. Sarah had to head in to the castle to pick up the list of agents she would have to choose from. She would then give Casey the packet, and he would make his choices. The ones they both picked would be accepted, and then they would haggle about the rest. Once all the names were assembled, their pictures would be shown to Chuck to see if he flashed on any of them. If not they would accepted to the team.

Chuck and Casey headed in to the Buy More to talk to big Mike about quitting. Once that was done, Casey headed to the castle to check over the list of agents. After he made his choices, he compared his with Sarah, and after several hours they had the names to show Chuck.

When Chuck got done talking to big Mike he tracked down Morgan in the appliances isle. "Hey Morgan, what's up with you?"

"You know Chuck same old stuff, just a different day. I thought you had the late shift today? Why are you here so early?"

"I umm I need to talk to you, so I came by to take you to lunch so we can talk. Where do you want to go for lunch?"

"How about we go to the new steak place?"

"Sounds good to me. I cleared it with Big Mike to give you a longer lunch, so we can go now. So clock out, and let's go." Chuck was glad Morgan chose the steak place because he had to turn in the keys to the herder after he quit. They placed their orders and Chuck began "Morgan I got some good news yesterday. The job I applied for came through. It's on the east coast as a software engineer for the Government. So I quit today."

"NOOoo" wailed Morgan "Chuck you can't leave Buymoria, you can't leave me." This caused people to turn and look at them.

"Don't worry dude, I'll be back here on a regular basis, so I'll still be able to get together with you. Plus, we can play COD online. You still have those plans we made?" asked Chuck in a quiet tone hoping to defuse the earlier outburst from Morgan.

"There's more Morgan, Sarah and I are getting married tomorrow in Vegas."

"YES! Road trip, when do we leave? Where are we staying? This is going to fun. Wait till I tell Anna we're going to Vegas." And excited Morgan rattled on. All Chuck could do was shake his head._ This isn't going to be as easy as I thought_.

"Sorry Morgan you and Anna won't be going it's us, Ellie, and Awesome."

"But Chuck it's me, your life partner!" Morgan continued to whine loudly.

"NO Morgan you're NOT my life partner, Sarah is. You are my best friend, and I love you like a brother. Sarah is my life Morgan. I'll always thank you for helping me get over Jill, but Sarah allowed me to love again. Without her, I would still be drifting along working at Buy More as the Nerd Herd supervisor. Because of her, I can be so much more. I hope you understand."

Chuck turned around when he heard a muffled sob coming from behind him. What he saw astounded him. Sarah was standing there with her hand covering her mouth and tears running down her face. Chuck stood and pulled her into a hug.

"What's wrong Sarah? You ok?"

"I'm fine Chuck; I just came over to say hi to Morgan during my break. What you just said to Morgan was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard. I guess it makes it seem more real I just can't explain it."

Morgan stood up and moved to the couple "Congratulations Sarah, Chuck told me the good news. Seeing him now, you have been good for him. Sarah would you like to join us?"

"No thanks I'm gonna head back to work. You guy's enjoy the rest of your lunch." She gave Chuck one last hug and a quick kiss and headed out.

"Sarah really loves you man."

"Yeah Morgan, I know. I am one lucky guy. Let's finish eating before you're late getting back."

They finished their meal with Morgan asking Chuck for more information on his new job, how he proposed, and the normal stuff they talked about. When they finished, Chuck headed to the castle, and Morgan to the Buy More.

Chuck found Sarah poring over reports. She looked up and gave him a big smile, "Babe, I called the Jones' and asked them to reschedule the dinner until next week. I told them something important came up with one of your companies, and we had to go out of town. She understood and asked if next weekend was fine, and I said yes."

"Good idea, running off to Vegas to get married may not have been the thing to say. Speaking of which, I made reservations at the Bellagio for the five of us, three rooms of course." Chuck was laughing as he continued on "The last thing I need is a repeat of the shower scene. Plus, I want to spend my wedding night alone with my new wife."

"That sounds wonderful." Letting out a sigh "Casey and me finished looking at the files, and picking out the agents. All we need for you to do is check them out."

"Ok, hand them over, and I'll take a look. Ya know, take the new improved intersect out for a test drive, and see what it can do." Taking the folders from Sarah he set to work. He was part way through, when he flashed on one. It was nothing like before. _Man this is great no pain!_ "This guy is Fulcrum but just a low level grunt type. He won't have much to offer us on them. We should just have him picked up."

"Wait a second Chuck, you said you flashed, but I didn't see the usual signs" Sarah exclaimed.

"I know it was different, Instead of images just popping in and out quickly; they faded in and out smoothly and with more details. Kinda like when your computer shuts down. Also there was no pain or for that matter, any sensations. Just the data flow as it was. It felt like it took forever, how long was it?" Chuck really wanted to know.

"Chuck, I never knew you flashed, almost as soon as you looked at it, you handed me the folder. It seems Gabriel's version works well. You should continue on and see what happens if you have multiple flashes."

"The rest of them are ok." Chuck had finished up with the folders and hadn't flashed on anyone else. As they were finishing up Casey joined them.

"Bartowski, you get a chance to look over those folders yet?"

"Yeah I just finished them up. Only had one flash though, but it was impressive. I had no feelings at all, and Sarah never noticed I flashed. We were trying to get me to have multiple flashes to see if I react better than the last time."

"Why don't you try looking at old files that we have in the archives from cases we have closed." Casey suggested heading to the archive computer to pull up the files.

Chuck took his seat and started scanning the files as they appeared on his screen. Casey and Sarah were astounded as they watched him. Gone were the rolling of the eyes, glazed over expression, and the stiffened body they were so used to seeing. Instead, he just looked normal, like he was reading the screen. Casey noticed for the briefest moment that Chuck's eyes would move back and forth a miniscule amount. If you weren't staring at his eyes and looking for it, you would never notice it.

"How's the pain Chuck?" a concerned Sarah asked

"There isn't any, just like the flash earlier." Replied Chuck

"Casey why don't you send the names to Beckman, and let her make up the teams? We need to get out of here to pack for Vegas, and so do you." Said Chuck

"Why would I want to go?" Casey was stunned

"Casey, you may not show it all the time and you may not act like it, but I think you like us. If not that, at least respect us so we want you there." Chuck said with a small smile, knowing that was about as much of the Lady feelings Casey could handle.

Since it was still early, Sarah and Chuck decided to head out shopping to pick out their wedding rings. Chuck figured that since he had just got all his back pay, they should head to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Sarah had to explain to Chuck that since they were going to need new clothes for the upcoming mission, the CIA would be footing the bill. They checked out several of the stores there and made several clothing purchases, before heading into Harry Winston's.

"Hello, I'm Samantha, how can I help you today?" asked the sales person

"We're looking for a wedding set," answered Chuck.

"We have some very nice sets here. Do you have any particular style you are interested in?"

"Not really. My girl is very special, and I was looking for something unique."

"Ah I see. We may have just what you are looking for. Please wait here while I get something from the back." After several minutes, Samantha returned carrying a small tray containing two rings. "This set was made many years ago. It was designed by a couple who was already married for several years and wanted something to last a lifetime. Before they could get remarried, they were killed. The man called it an eternity set."

"Wow" they both exclaimed at the same time.

Sitting on the tray were two of the most beautiful rings they had ever seen. They were made of platinum, with a dull black design, resembling a Celtic rope design. The edges were in a scallop design, and very small green stones were interwoven in the black design.

"Why did he call it an eternity ring?" asked Sarah

"He designed the rings to join together after one of their deaths. Something to do with the black metal he gave us to mix in with the platinum. They join together on the scalloped edges. That way the remaining spouse has the rings for all eternity," explained Samantha. "So just to be safe we have never let the rings touch, just in case what he says is true."

"What do you think Sarah?"

"I have never seen anything like them before. Like us they are unique, I say we get them."

"Ok, Samantha we'll take them. What's the damage?" inquired Chuck.

"These rings are very old and were a custom made, but in all the years we have had them nobody has wanted them. So how about you give us cost plus 500?"

The purchase was made, and as Chuck and Sarah departed the store Samantha called out to them "Congratulations on your pending marriage, may it be a long and healthy union."

As soon as the couple left the store Samantha pulled out her phone and placed a call.

"Talk to me Sam"

"They got the rings"

"Good, return to base. Nice work"

"Got it boss, see you in a few." And with that the call ended.

With the shopping done, and rings bought, they headed home. The couple enjoyed a quick ride home, stopping along the way to grab a bite to eat. The conversation centered on the wedding, and the plans for the upcoming mission. When the topic of cars came up, Chuck stated he wanted a Mustang, but Sarah argued that in keeping with their uniqueness, he should get a more powerful machine. Sarah suggested the Viper. Chuck remembered what Devon had told him about not arguing with the woman you love, especially when you know you can't win. So he conceded the Viper. Plus he figured it would be really fun to drive. Once they arrived at home they unpacked Sarah's Porsche, and finalized the trip to Vegas with Ellie and Devon. They then went to bed anticipating the day tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N:** **Here it is. Chuck and Sarah get married, and meet their new team mates. We find out some more about Gabriel and his past. For those of you sticking around reading this work, we are coming to the end of the setup chapters. Starting next chapter the action picks up. Big thanks to BDaddyDL for his beta work and the shout out in his awesome work, Chuck VS His Heritage. **

**A/N 2: about the 3/4 mark of his chapter, afet the Jones mission, there is some mention of same sex relationship in this chapter, no actual sex. i tried to clean it up so from that point you can skip about a thousand words and it gets back to the mission. if you do read it you'll see Beckman like never before.  
**

At first light the entire wedding crew left for Vegas. It was a quiet and uneventful trip. They checked into the Bellagio and started looking for a wedding chapel that appealed to both Sarah and Ellie. They checked out a few, and finally decided on A Special Moment Wedding Chapel, mostly because it featured traditional weddings, and it resembled a small church. It had been decided during the trip that Devon would be the best man, Ellie the matron of honor, and Casey would walk Sarah down the aisle.

As they were getting ready to begin Sarah pulled Chuck to the side. "Chuck, I know you worry sometimes about how I feel towards you. As soon as you asked me to marry you I put in the paperwork to have my name legally changed to Sarah Walker so when we get married it will be completely legal in every sense of the word, not for the cover, not for the CIA, but because I love you, and living without you isn't living."

Chuck was speechless. He never even gave a thought to asking Sarah to legally change her name. He pulled her in for a hug, and gave her a small kiss on the lips and thanked her.

The wedding party moved to the front of the Chapel standing in front of the minister. As soon as they were all in place Casey walked Sarah down the aisle where he handed her off to Chuck and then the ceremony began.

The Reverend began "We are gathered here today in the sight of God and angels, and the presence of friends, to celebrate one of life's greatest moments, to give recognition to the worth and beauty of love, and to add our best wishes and blessings to the words which shall unite Chuck and Sarah in holy matrimony."

Chuck reached up and brushed a falling tear from Sarah's cheek, and she leaned into his palm, mouthing 'I love you'. Behind her, Ellie blinked, trying to keep at bay her own threatening tears. She turned her head slightly and caught Devon's eye and received a reassuring smile, as if he were telling her that everything would be just fine. She nodded slightly and turned her attention back to the ceremony.

The Reverend continued, "Chuck and Sarah, life is given to each of us as individuals, and yet we must learn to live together. Love is given to us by our family and friends. We learn to love by being loved."

"As you travel through life together, I want you to remember that the true measure of success, the true avenue to joy and peace, is to be found within the love you hold in your hearts. I would ask that you hold the key to your heart very tightly."

The Reverend read from the Bible, "That in the beginning the Creator made them male and female, for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one."

Sarah reached over and clasped Chuck's hand in hers. She was surprised to discover that his hand was trembling as much as hers. They only had eyes for each other, as the Reverend continued, "Chuck, do you take Sarah to be your wife? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect her, for richer and poorer, in sickness and health, forsaking all others and holding only to her forevermore?"

"I do," he replied firmly, granting her a dazzling smile.

"Sarah, do you take Chuck to be your husband? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect him, for richer and poorer, in sickness and health, forsaking all others and holding only to him forevermore?" The Reverend recited.

"I do," she replied, surprised that her voice didn't tremble as her fingers were.

"May I have the rings, please?" The Reverend asked. Devon set the rings on top of the Bible. "May these rings always remind you of the vows you have taken," he held the open Bible out to Chuck, "take this ring and place it on the third finger of Sarah's left hand as you repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."

Chuck took the ring and slowly slid the ring onto Sarah's finger, repeating the vow. After he slipped the ring into place, he squeezed her fingers, lifting her hand to his lips for a quick kiss.

"Now, Sarah," The Reverend said, turning to her, "Take this ring and place it on the third finger of Chuck's left hand as you repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."

She slipped the ring on his finger as she repeated the words. When she was finished, she echoed his actions by lifting his hand to her lips. Their hands remained clasped as the ceremony continued.

"Chuck and Sarah, in so much as the two of you have agreed to live together in Matrimony, have promised your love for each other by these vows, the giving of these rings and the joining of your hands, I now declare you to be husband and wife in the name of the Lord and Jesus. Amen. You may now kiss your bride."

Sarah leaned up and crashed her lips against Chuck's, giving him a toe curling kiss. It was so powerful she had to grasp onto his shoulders to steady herself. She was so excited and nervous, that she wasn't entirely sure how she'd managed to stand upright through the ceremony. They stood hugging each other for several minutes until the sound of a throat being cleared caused them to look up.

"Get a room you two!" said Casey who then continued on reaching out to shake their hands, "Walker you're the best partner I have ever had. Chuck you've come a long way from when you started out. I wish you two the best of luck."

"Thanks." answered Sarah, with her eyes starting to tear up. She knew what it took for Casey to say what he had just said.

"Thanks big guy." Chuck chimed in.

It was only seconds after Casey's little speech when the couple was engulfed in a bone crushing Ellie hug. She had tears of joy running down her cheeks. "I am so happy for you too. Sarah, I know it's been a long time since you've been part of a family, so all I have to say is welcome to the family Mrs. Bartowski! I wish you both all the happiness you two deserve." Ellie sobbed through tear filled eyes.

With the ceremony over the group made its way out of the Chapel and split off into its own groups. Casey went his own way to play some of the table games; Chuck and Sarah went out take in some shows, as did Ellie and Devon. Chuck, Sarah and Casey had agreed to meet at 9 pm to check in with the General to see if anything had come up they needed to be aware of. The meeting with the General passed with no information of any importance being discussed. The General gave the team a couple of weeks off so they could make all the plans for the move and to offer them help in finding a house in the Philadelphia. They also made plans to have Chuck's Viper purchased and delivered to the house. They also set up a date and time to have Sarah's Porsche picked up and shipped. The team agreed that this was the best course of action since Chuck and Sarah had plans in place to meet the Jones's. One of the biggest surprises came when the General offered to move Ellie and Devon as well. This was based on the fact that Ellie and Devon would be vetted with both the agencies to treat agents and other government officials.

With the meeting over, Casey headed to his room, and the newlyweds settled in their room where they began their first night together as a married couple. Their love making was not hurried or rushed. It was slow and tender, with each taking the time to explore each other; both secure in the knowledge they had finally gotten what they always wanted, but thought they could never have.

The next morning they made the trip back home and started on the plans for moving and selecting the teams. Because they had very little to do to get ready to leave, Chuck and Sarah only had to get their personal things together. Most of the large items in the apartment belonged to Ellie and Devon. Plus, the new house would come fully furnished and stocked. It would be a while before Ellie and Devon made the move to the east coast. They would have to find and apartment or house to live in prior to moving. Ellie and Devon would travel with the team when they moved, to look for a place to live.

Team Bartowski had returned to its normal routine after a couple of days, and they started to prep for the upcoming dinner with Jones and his wife. Chuck started his hand to hand combat training with Sarah, and his small arms training with Casey. A couple of days prior to the mission Castle Sarah's cell phone rang.

"Bartowski secure."

"Gabriel secure. Congratulations on your wedding Mrs. Bartowski"

"Thank you. What do you need?" Sarah did not even question how Gabriel got her number or how he bypassed the encryption on it.

"Straight and to the point, I like that. There will be limo coming to pick your team up in thirty minutes. Be ready when it gets there. We need to have a pre mission brief at our headquarters."

"We'll be ready for pick up in thirty minutes"

"Good. Gabriel out" and the call was disconnected.

Sarah wasted no time informing Chuck and Casey about the briefing and the pickup time.

"We need to inform Beckman about this briefing," stated Casey. Chuck wasted no time in setting up the video conference.

"What is it Agent Bartowski?"

"General we just were contacted by Gabriel and he has arranged a briefing this afternoon to plan our mission objectives. We wanted to keep you in the loop," replied Chuck.

"Thank you. When you arrive, see if I can be part of the mission briefs. I also have superiors I need to report to. Do you have anything else to report? If not, get to the briefing, Beckman out." And the connection is ended.

**Same time at Ghost headquarters**

"Status report" barked Gabriel

"Medical is ready. They will be given a full work up using the methods used in the current time line. We will also use our scanning techniques to look for potential problems that are not detectable by this time periods medical technology. I have altered some of our technology for Agent Chuck Bartowski. It will aid him in getting in shape, sharpen his reflexes and repair any damage his brain may have suffered by down loading the intersect. It will passively lower his guilt about having to injure or kill on assignment."

"Communications are ready. We will be issuing secure laptops with our best encryption algorithms. They will be compatible with our communications systems and the ones they normally use. This will allow them to contact us anywhere in the world. Finger print and retinal scans will be required for operation. The retinal scans will be passive in nature so they won't have any idea they are being scanned. Safeguards have been built in to insure that the information remains hidden from anyone but us. In addition, phones from this era have been modified to use our frequencies, and not depend on the networks currently in use. Our East coast team is ready to install the Generals computer system if and when it's needed. A phone has already been shipped to the General. The last of our goodies is the personal tactical communication gear, or ear wigs as they call it. It is virtually invisible to the naked eye and cannot be jammed."

"Tactical is ready. We have modified our tactical body armor to stop all bladed weapons and projectile rounds; up to and including the 7.62mm used in the AK-47. It appears to be the weapon of choice used by many countries and rebel groups during this era. It's a two layer suit, the first layer worn next to the skin and it resembles spandex of the time. It is used to disperse the force of the round in milliseconds, and helps control the body temperature. The outer layer resembles their normal mission gear and stops the penetration of the rounds and bladed weapons."

"Bio-sciences are a go. We have subcutaneous tracking and life sign monitoring devices ready to go. The one problem is the device must be placed the base of the skull near the brain stem. The devices cannot be found using the equipment available today. The one down side is they will need to be knocked out for the placement. The Doc has already agreed to do the procedure."

Gabriel gave a slight nod of his head in acknowledgement, "Nice work team. Our guests should be arriving shortly. Let's make them feel welcome." He turned and went to greet the team.

It wasn't long before the team arrived at Gabriel's headquarters, where Gabriel met them at the door and ushered them inside. They were led to the same conference room they had been in before. Seated around the main table they saw 4 new people and Sirella. Sirella rose and offered them seats around the table and asked if they would like anything to eat or drink. The first thing Sarah noticed was that each person in the room was armed with a shoulder rig that held their pistol of choice. Second they each had some form of bladed weapon hanging off their belts.

"Gabriel, before we begin the briefing, we would like General Beckman to be present if that is possible. She is our commanding officer, and requested we keep her in the loop." Casey asked for his team.

"I don't mind at all, in fact I feel she needs to hear most of the information I intend to pass on to you. Do you want to contact her now?"

"Yes, Chuck use your laptop and get the General." As Chuck opened up his laptop to boot it up, Gabriel stopped him with a wave of his hand.

"That won't be necessary Chuck, just use ours. Just log the way you normally do to set up the video conferences you use," offered Gabriel, while he was pointing to the desk beneath the mammoth monitor they had seen on their last visit.

Chuck rose up from his seat and made his way to the keyboard and rapidly typed in the commands. In a few seconds the screen flickered, and the familiar white shield and blue back ground appeared and then the General's image. The three agents were stunned when this happened. Very similar thoughts swept through their minds. The first thing that worried them was Chuck was using Gabriel's computer to make the connection. To them it should not be possible. Secondly how good are these people? We have the latest and greatest security on our network. And the thought was _When the hell did the General get her second star?_

"General it's nice to see you again. This time under better circumstances than our last meeting" Gabriel started off, "I would like to introduce you to your Agents support team, and go over the team's new dynamics. Please save your questions until I have finished. It will save time in the long run." He paused for a few seconds waiting for any objections.

"First we have our Doctor" a middle aged balding man stood up and took a bow, "he simply goes by Doc. You'll have to forgive Doc, he's prone to theatrics, and can be a royal pain in the ass, but he is the best." Doc puffed out his chest and gave another bow before returning to his seat.

"Next to the Doc is Elizabeth, our communications guru. She goes by Liz." Liz simply smiled and waved her hand. "Beside her is her wife, and our tactical person Cameron." All they got was a small nod of her head. "Finally, our Bio-Sciences expert Garry," the man acknowledged the introduction with a head bob.

As Gabriel was about to continue on, a loud very angry growl could be heard coming from a woman standing next to Gabriel. Several things happened at once. The four members of Gabriel's team jumped up and backed away from the table. Sarah, Chuck and Casey just sat there stunned at the noise and pissed off look on Sirella's face. They had seen a similar look before at the party where they first met.

They all knew it could not be good. Gabriel's head snapped to his right and his eyes locked on to his very pissed off wife. Fortunately for him he had been in this position many times before, and he knew exactly what to do. He reached over and pulled his wife into his body, and started nibbling on her lower lip. Soon her growling was turned into a soft purr, as she melted into his embrace. Sensing the change in his wife he gently pushed her away, but not before he made sure she was standing next to him and he had his arm around her lower back. Relief washed across Gabriel's team members, and they returned to their seats.

Gabriel turned his attention back to the screen to address the General again. "My apologies General, I forgot you never were introduced to my wife. General this is Sirella my wife and head of security."

"Damn Gabe, when are you ever gonna learn. You leave her out every time" laughed Cameron "one of these times she's gonna knock you on your ass."

"Stuff it Cam, the one time you forgot, you didn't get laid for a week."

"Yeah, but I only did it that one time, I learned from it Gabe, something you have failed to do."

"Wait a minute, you already met the general" said Gabriel glaring at his wife.

With that Sirella broke into a fit of laughter. "That was to funny, I finally got to put one over on you!"

"Ok. Ok, you got me on that one!" replied Gabriel as he joined in the laughter.

Sarah was wondering what the hell was going on. Just a few weeks ago she had seen the man standing before her kill men with a cold and calculated intent. She'd seen his cold and lifeless eyes as he threatened to end her life right here in this very room because he thought she was reaching for a weapon. Casey was another story; he remembered the look in his eyes when he was being lifted off the ground by Gabriel. He was wondering what happened to man he had seen before. And Chuck he wondered what rabbit hole he fell down. Nothing was making sense any more. The cold blooded killer that scared the crap out of him was gone, replaced by a laughing person.

"ENOUGH" barked the General through the computer system. "Can we get back to the briefing please. I have other things to do beside listen to idle banter."

"Actually General, you don't." said a voice over the com link. The screen split and an image appeared next to the Generals. Casey, Sarah, Chuck, and the General all stood up. All four spoke in unison "Mr. President"

"Relax, and take your seats please. Master Sergeant how have you been? It's been a while; you need to stop by for dinner soon and bring your wife. Just don't forget to introduce her this time. The last time she tossed you like what five, six feet?"

Gabriel groaned and rolled his eyes, "Not you too sir?"

"As I was saying General, along with your promotion comes added responsibility. As of this moment, your main focus is operation Time Share. You are the lone person in charge, and answer only to me. Unless you hear directly from me, you are to stay the course. All assets we have are now yours to use as you need them. The directors of all intelligence agencies have been informed of your status. If anyone tries stone walling you, or fails to give you the information you need contact me immediately, and I will fix it."

The Presidents face turned grave, as he looks directly at each person on the screen, "We are at war people; not just with terrorists, but with a group that threatens the very existence of our great country. General, it's up to you, and the people in that room to make it happen. Your three agents have been tasked by me to carry this fight to the enemy where ever and whoever they are. Make no mistake about it when I say this; the future of our great nation is resting squarely on your shoulders. Good luck and happy hunting." As quickly as he appeared, he was gone.

Three faces look blankly into the screen where the President was, just seconds before, taking in enormity of the situation they have been placed in. Breaking their musings a soft voice can be heard saying "Man Down." Turning quickly they all turn to see Liz; who is gently lowering Chuck to the ground his eyes closed, and his face pale and lightly coated in sweat. Sarah rushes over to help while Casey just rolls his eyes, _man this is gonna suck. He better suck it up._

"Don't worry Sarah, he just passed out. We need to get his feet up and wait. He won't be out long" the Doc informs her. About a minute later Chuck's eyes start to flutter, and he can be heard muttering "fate of the country, not me, nope, not gonna happen," and he passes out again.

"DAMN IT DOC what's wrong with him?" Sarah whispers almost like it was a scream at Doc.

"Will he be alright Doctor?" inquires the General.

"Nothing is wrong as I said before. You need to understand more about Chuck's brain, and how it works. I was going to explain it all later wh…"

"Get to the point Doc." Sirella commands adding a low growl for added effect

"Right, as I was saying, Chuck's brain is more unique then you know. While he is in the top five to ten percent of all people in the intellect department, he also happens to be at the top of the emotional department as well. From what I can tell his intellectual side has processed all the data on the severity of this task. He has calculated the odds of success and the devastating results of failure. His emotional side is overloaded by what will happen if you fail to achieve your goal. The results of those processes coming together overloaded his central nervous system causing a sympathetic result of all is voluntary muscles."

Five minutes later Chuck was awake, though still shaky, but deemed himself ready to continue. Chuck returned to his seat next to Sarah. She wasted no time in taking his hand hers to offer any comfort she could, short of hugging him.

The briefing continued with each of the department heads explaining what their equipment could do and why it was needed. The team balked slightly at having the tracking devices implanted. The loudest complaint came from Casey who claimed he did not want to be Lo Jacked. This got a laugh from Chuck and Sarah.

"General this concludes the technical portion of the briefing. We need to conduct the physicals and perform the implant procedures. They will then be fitted with their mission gear. The whole process should only take several hours to complete. Sirella has a team waiting to install your new communications equipment. They will explain the uses and capabilities. They should arrive shortly, please let your Aide know, so he can escort them in."

"When should we reconvene to plan the upcoming operation?" asked Beckman.

"Give us three hours and call back. The techs should be done by then. Oh, one last thing General. We can provide you with a smaller computer system for use in your house if you wish."

"I think that would be a very good idea. I'll let the techs know when they get here when a good time is."

"Roger General, I sent a small token of my appreciation along with my techs. You should give it to Jennifer, she's been waiting a long time, don't you think?" and he cuts the transmission.

When Gabriel turns back from the monitor he is greeted by the three surprised faces of the intersect team. "What, she's been with Jenifer for over twenty years. I think it's time the stubborn old bird made it official as she can," Gabriel says with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Wait a minute, you're telling me that hard ass, General Diane Beckman, the same one that keeps asking me if I have feelings for Chuck, has been in a relationship for over twenty years? And to top it all off she's a lesbian!" asks Sarah in a voice filled with anger.

"Yep, before we get too far off course, we need to get your physicals done, and the implants taken care of. We have a lot to do, and not much time left today to do it. I really hate to work past five." Gabriel quipped.

**Flash back to earlier in the day**

"Are you ready for Chuck, Doc?" Gabriel asks.

"Yes, but I still don't like it."

"It needs to be done, he's a physical wreck."

"I still don't like it."

"It will just get him where he needs to be faster, just slightly faster and stronger than a normal human. Look, it will not affect Chuck's mental aspects."

"You can't make him perfect you know."

"Wanna bet? I am Borg, it's what we do. The fate of the entire universe relies on the successful completion of this mission, make it happen Doc."

**End flash back**

The Doc called each member of the team back to see him in the examining room. He called them one at a time, and conducted his examinations. While the other members of the team were in with the Doctor, the remaining members visited with the Gabriel's team**. **Once the implants were in place, and they returned to the main briefing room, they were amazed when they saw their vital statistics being displayed on the massive monitor. Chuck, always the Nerd, decided to test the equipment so he pulled Sarah into a hug and started making out with her.

_Wow, I could get use to this new Chuck!_

After several minutes of a very intense make out session; Sarah was left thinking if they could slip into one of the back rooms for a few minutes. They turned to the monitor to see the results. Sure enough though, they showed their elevated heart rates and other related information.

Sarah was lead to one of the back rooms by Liz and Cameron to be fitted for her tactical suit. Casey and Chuck were taken back by Gabriel and Gary. They returned again each wearing their new mission clothes. They were hard pressed to believe that a set of spandex underwear and regular clothes could stop a knife or a bullet. Casey decided to voice his concerns in a way only he could.

"Look you have shown us some pretty interesting things, but if you want me to believe that these rags are gonna stop an AK-47 round your fucking nuts." _Fuck me!_

Chuck and Sarah watched in horror as five separate weapons were un-holstered, aimed and fired all in a matter of seconds. The rounds impacted Casey in the dead center of his chest. Casey was knocked back a foot, but remained standing. The five rounds that hit him clattered off the floor where they landed after bouncing harmlessly off the mission gear.

"CASEY!" was yelled almost in perfect harmony from Chuck and Sarah as they bolted towards their partner.

Gabriel and his team stood there laughing their asses off before he could finally get out "Care to change your mind? If not, I can always get an AK from the back and show you!" When he finally got himself under control he motioned for everyone to take their seats.

"Casey are you ok?" asked Sarah with concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. That body armor is great. I felt like someone pushed me hard but that was it. It didn't even knock my breath out. I don't know how it works, but it does. You should try it," Answered Casey with a whole lot of excitement in his voice.

Gabriel began to speak, "We have a lot to go over before the General joins us in a little under an hour. I would like to clear the air a bit before we get started. When we met the first time I chewed your asses. Casey, you should have seen that tactic from your training. I just used a variation of the basic training approach. Instead of breaking you down and building you back up; I scared the shit out of you to get you to listen. You and Sarah are to set in your ways right now. We are going to change that, starting today. Chuck you have no real way of doing things so we are going to give you one; a way that will work for you not against you. Gone are the days of seduction and busting heads. There will be missions you will be tasked to eliminate a cell or a group of agents, but it will be done smartly and with plenty of backup in place. No more heading in without more fire power than you could ever want."

Gabriel paused to take a sip of water then continued, "We feel one of the main mistakes that is being made is trying to get the Fulcrum agents and elders. Casey, what happens if during a battle if the senior NCO gets killed?"

"That's easy. The next ranking person takes over and the mission continues," Casey replied.

"EXACTLY!" Gabriel exclaimed enthusiastically. "If you kill or capture a Fulcrum elder or an agent there will be someone to take his place. Fulcrum is not like the CIA or NSA. They can and they do pull some of their people from the criminal element in this country. Your agencies don't do that as a rule. What we are going to do is remove as much of the funding as we can. Face it, without money and supplies any organization will fall. That's where you and Chuck come in. You will feed the information back to us and we will send it to Beckman to be analyzed. Then several months later we will send in teams to arrest the guilty parties. We plan to wait that long so it will be hard to place you guys in the vicinity. Do you understand what will be expected of you most of the time?"

"Yes we do." Sarah answered for the team.

Gabriel continued, "I have a few rules that I go by when on a mission. I won't discuss them all now. We will have plenty of time for that later. My personal belief is that a good undercover operative goes in and gets out without ever being noticed. You may even at one point be taken in with the people we are after."

"Your new mission parameters have been discussed. You need to understand these are not hard and fast rules and can be changed at any time you see fit. Sarah and Chuck you need to understand from this moment forward you are the two most important members of this team. Chuck because of the intersect and Sarah because as I said before, Chuck would be lost without her. You are going to be using technology that no one else has. Chuck the thing that makes you so special is that the information transfer is almost instantaneous. Even with our computers it takes time to get the information back and forth. You can make the decisions right there. Do you have any questions for me?"

"You said earlier today that when you first met us you object was to scare us to death, and trust me it worked. But which personality is the real you?" Chuck really wanted to know.

"That's a tough question. For the most part around my close friends I am like how you saw me today. When on a mission I am defiantly like I was when we first met. Don't get me wrong even on a day like today I'd kill you in a heartbeat and not lose any sleep over it. For now let's just say we're friends and leave it at that." Gabriel replied.

"Ok, I really want to stay on your good side." Chuck conceded.

"Beckman is back," called Garry from the other room.

"Let's go troops, our fearless leader awaits!" said Gabriel, who was already on his way to the main conference room. "General, again welcome back. What have you got for us?"

"Nothing much is new for the upcoming op. Just continue to get closer to the Jones's," The general instructed. "If possible, set up a business meeting to discuss a business venture. If you can get close enough, maybe you can get into his inner circle of friends. That's where the big payoff will be."

"Understood General, we spent some time going over our new SOP's and despite some minor issues, we have come to an agreement on them. I will send you and edited transcript of our briefing and a word of warning don't be shocked when you see Casey get shot, as you can see he is fine. Before I go General by the look on your face I take it your afternoon went very well."

_Look on her face? She looks the same as she always does. _Sarah thought.

Chuck's musings were much the same, _Huh, looks like the same pissed of expression to me. But after the shit that happened earlier today if he says the sky is green I say YES Sir and move on. _

To the astonishment of Team Intersect the General's face softened and a big smile was on her face. It made her look ten years young and infinitely friendlier. "She said yes, and then showed me how happy she was, many, many, times" as she completed her answer with a sigh, the Generals body gave a little shudder at the memory of the afternoons passionate activities.

_EWWW_

_Brain bleach, I need brain bleach_

_I did so not need to hear that. That killed the mood from this afternoon._

"Congratulations General, I would like to wish you and the wife-to-be a long and prosperous life. Send us an invitation, we would love to attend," Gabriel smiled.

"We will, I assure you. Jennifer wants me to pass along a message: 'thanks for getting her head out of her ass' so there it is. Thank you from both of us"

"Agent's and General, I need to get serious for a moment. Nothing that happened today can ever be discussed with anyone, not even the President. There are only four people not on my team that know about the items we discussed and used here today; and you are all at this meeting. This is no idle threat, if one shred of what occurred today ever gets out I will personally kill each and every one of you. I won't care who let the information out. Am I understood?"

Gabriel looked at the team and saw that his message had been received loud and clear. _Good, maybe I won't have to do it._

"Understood, Beckman out"

"Not a problem for us." was Casey's response for the team.

"Now where were we before the General called?" Gabriel asked.

It was Sarah's turn to ask a question, "You claim to know a lot about the business and I am sure you do. Who do you really work for?"

As soon as the question was raised the four department heads excused themselves from the room and headed out. Sirella grabbed her husband's hand anticipating a blow up of major proportions. He merely closed his eyes took a deep breath and counted to ten. He opened his eyes and began to speak. "operation Swan Song….operation Stinging Sword…operation Delilah….operation Black Rose…..operation Swarm…..agent Thanatos….. Sirella, get into the Army's data base and pull up my records."

Chuck was flashing like a mad man on acid. Images were flying in his mind faster than ever before. Sarah's Missions were operations Swan Song, Delilah and Black Rose. During each one she had been captured and rescued. Each time she had been close to being tortured but saved just before it began. Casey's missions were Stinging Sword and Swarm; one was a black op that went south and got him trapped and almost captured, the other his unit was pinned down with no communications and running low on ammo. None of the flashes contained information on how the rescues took place or who the Agent or Agents were.

Agent Thanatos revealed nothing. No identifying pictures no mission reports just entries like Swan Song..rescue..successful, Delilah..rescue..successful, and Black Rose..rescue.. successful. There were others that in place of rescue there was passive assist. The same was true for Casey's operations. Chuck could see that this agent was so far above them and any other in any agency, it was almost laughable. He knew his partners were good, but this agent made them look like amateurs. _No offense Sarah_. Realization hit him like a lightning bolt. Agent Thanatos was almost single handedly responsible for his wife and Casey being alive today. He vowed to find this Agent and give him the thanks he deserved.

Hearing the names of her worst missions caused the memories she had been able to suppress to come flooding back. She could feel her face getting flush and her breathing quicken. She wondered in that moment why she did not ask to have these missions scrubbed as well. She looked over and saw Chuck had finished flashing and was giving her a small smile in spite of the tears slowly making their way down his cheeks. Her insecure mind was racing a mile a minute screaming at her that this was the end of the line. No more Chuck, goodbye to cuddling on the couch on lazy days. The house and kids vanished in a puff of smoke to be replaced by visions of a broken woman alone in a desolate house. Through tear filled eyes she watched him get up from his chair and start walking. She was sure he was heading out, to get as far away as possible from the loser Agent that she was. Then she noticed the impossible start to happen, Chuck was not heading towards the door but to her. He stopped just in front of the chair she was sitting in and reached down. He gently took hold of her hands and pulled her up. His hands slid up her arms toward her shoulders and finally came to rest on her back. He pulled her towards him till their bodies met, then he hugged her. She hugged him back knowing that this moment would be frozen in her mind's eye forever. It was the moment that Sarah Bartowski accepted that Charles Irving Bartowski loved her. Every doubt she still had hidden, every worry she had that this fairy tale would end disappeared. She finally accepted that she is allowed the happiness that she has found with Chuck.

Casey was in awe of the record of the man on the big screen. Multiple combat tours, silver and bronze stars with V device for valor, Navy Cross awarded while serving with a Seal team and the Soldiers Medal for taking a bullet meant for the President while serving on his protection detail while in Iraq, Purple Heart times two, Ranger tab and the list went on. Casey finds an added page that has a picture of a tattoo, a skull with a dagger running down the center and a ribbon wrapped around it containing the words _Death Before Dishonor,_ but no picture of the soldier. His rank is Master Sergeant. Casey hopes that one day he will get a chance to meet this Soldier. His hopes were dashed when he read that the soldier was declared missing and presumed dead on 14 June 2007. Casey also remembered the missions Gabriel listed. The unnecessary loss of life caused by bad intel and piss poor planning by a commanding officer. To this day he didn't know how he got out of both messes.

Gabriel gave the group a few more minutes to collect their thoughts and compose themselves. Sirella returned to her husband's side and sat on his lap, hugging him tightly. She understood what it had taken him to get this far, to be here at this point in time knowing that his family is still alive yet he can't see them. They had talked about this very thing, letting the intersect team know who he really is, because as he put it, 'how can you expect them to work with me and follow me if they have no idea who I am or have doubts about my skills and knowledge?' She could feel him starting to move, so she gave him a quick peck on the lips and allowed him to rise. She still kept her arm around his back because she knew he drew strength from her.

In an attempt to lighten the mood Gabriel asked "Hey Chuck care to share with the class?" He did not get the reaction he had hoped for as the trio just stared at him, so he pushed forward. "Tell me what the flashes showed you."

"Three of them were missions that Sarah was involved with that went sour and she was captured and almost tortured," Chuck said through a shaky breath, "two were of Casey's operations that also went south. And the flash on Thanatos was weird. All it showed were mission names what type and if it was successful. I did find out that the intersect allows me to collate data. It grouped all the missions by agent and time. I will never be able to thank Thanatos enough because he is the one who saved my wife and Casey."

"Sarah tell me about operation Black Rose" requested Gabriel.

"Besides it went to hell in a hand basket? It was in June of 2006 and I was teamed up with Bryce Larkin. It was a fairly straight forward op. We had to find out who was selling our weapons to some radical group in southern France. The op went off without a hitch until the end. We had the names and drop locations and were ready to pass the information on when we got ambushed. Bryce got taken down first then me. It happened so fast neither of us could draw our weapons. When I woke up I was half naked and tied to a chair. Two huge men were in the room with telling me how much fun they were going to have over and over again. They said that their friend would be there in a minute or two to start the fun."

"After a few minutes a man came in all dressed in black wearing a mask. Next thing I know both of the big guys are dead with throwing knives sticking out of their necks. He got me loose, handed me my clothes and walked me out. We must have passed twenty dead men as we left the building. There had to be a small rescue team with him because nobody alone could have gotten in there. Next thing I knew I was at the airport and heading home. The other two are about the same but it was a different guy each time." Still shaking she turned to Chuck who has been holding her hand the entire time, "Sorry Chuck but I think maybe Thanatos is the name of and extraction team and not a single agent. Bryce explained later that he had gotten away and called in an extraction team."

"Casey what about you?"

"I was running a black op in the mountains of Afghanistan. We'd located the hide out of one the leaders of an insurgent group. Our intel said the area was clear and should be an easy snatch and grab. FUBAR was more like it. The intel was bad and we got hit hard. I lost four good men that day. We were pinned down and there was no extraction plan for us. We just waited it out, hoping to take out as many as we could. The small arms fire finally stopped and we were able to get out. We found one body on the way out. The head had been cut off. There was a knife lying beside the body and one of my men picked it up. When we got home my team had it made into a plaque and presented it to me. The other event was similar except my commanding officer screwed the pooch. Lost some men and got out. That's it."

"Ok babe it's time, are you sure you want to do this?" Sirella asked.

"As sure as I am ever gonna be. And so it begins," after a slight pause he continued "In Greek Mythology, Thanatos was the daemon personification of Death; Gabriel the bringer of death. Are the lights coming on yet?"

"That's not enough for me. I need proof," Chuck says.

"Thanatos saved my life three times. I need to thank them if I can," Sobbed Sarah.

"When you woke up outside the airport in France, you were in a cab. It was driven by a Polish man. He talked to you in Polish and told you your ticket would be under the name of Elly May Clampett. He handed you your papers and right before you stepped out he said 'keep your bony ass safe' And then patted you on the right butt cheek. Sorry Chuck. The one thing that was left out of the intersect was the real reason for the mission. Whenever Graham wanted to have an agent removed permanently he would send them on a fairly easy mission then leak the agent's description and location. All of these ops had Black in the name."

Sarah nearly flew out of the chair towards Gabriel to engulf him in a hug. Chuck could only mumble _thank you_ over and over. Casey could only sit there and take it all in.

Gabriel pried himself away from Sarah and continued on, "Chuck I have one last thing for you to flash on." He took off his outer shirt and rolled up the sleeve on his tee-shirt. While Chuck was flashing, Casey recognized the tattoo from the records he had reviewed earlier.

Chucks response was simple "Thanatos"

Casey's response was a little more dramatic and a little more reverent, "Damn, I wondered earlier why the President called you Master Sergeant. You took a bullet for him in Iraq. You're a fuckin' hero. I read about you several years ago when you saved the President's ass. Your picture was never printed so I could not make the connection."

"Thank you and you're welcome. So, Agent Sarah Bartowski, do I have the needed skills and qualifications to be a part of your team, or should I just let my team handle it? Feel free to check any information you want with the General. Hey Sirella, that's not a bad idea. If I let the team handle it we can just hand out and have sex all day!"

"Lovely idea honey, buut.. no. Besides you would be bored within a week."

"Gabriel, why do all your code names deal with death? I saw what you did for Beckman today. Plus I know what you did for Sarah and me, making it possible for us to get married. I just don't get it." Chuck felt like he really needed to know.

"It easy Chuck," Gabriel began to explain. "Fear, when you hear my name I want you to know _what_, not _who _is after you. It's what I do and I am good at it. Before you get your panties in a twist let me explain. I am a cold blooded killer and I do so without remorse. I have never lost sleep over any of my kills. Am I emotionless? No, I feel sorrow when people I know and love die. I am saddened by the fact that I have a family I have not seen in a very long time because they think I am dead. I feel joy when people I know get married or engaged. I have never killed anyone that I didn't think should die. I kill drug dealers, murderers, gun runners, terrorists; not the average guy off the street. Nor will I kill somebody who one day may kill someone. I know it's hard for you to understand right now but I know Casey and Sarah agree with me. What I do is hard and unforgiving, that much is certain. That's the main thing we have to work on with you. Never go into a gun fight armed only with a knife. I think that will do it for today. Good luck on the op. Our driver will take you home." With that last comment he turned and walked away leaving the team to gather themselves and leave.

Chuck and Sarah were getting ready for their get together with the Jones's and discussing the remaining plans. Sarah was more apprehensive than Chuck had ever seen her and he wondered why. "Sarah what is bothering you?"

"This will be only the second time I have gone on an op like this without a weapon. I know there is a team as close as they can be, but I know firsthand how fast an op can go south. I have had enough of them thank you very much."

"You need to relax. Sarah I trust you with my life, but more importantly I trust your life with Gabriel and his team. He saved you three times so I don't think he would let anything happen to you now."

"You're right about that." Sarah finally agreed, "I guess I'll get used to it after a few more ops."

"I'm really excited about tonight." Chuck grinned.

"Why? The op should pretty much be a snoozer. You've been on plenty of missions before. What makes this one different?"

"Halloo, nerd here remember? I get to play with all the new toys we just got!"

Sarah rolled her eyes and gave him a playful swat on the arm.

"Hey, you two get a move on would you?" Casey's rough voice was heard over their ear wigs. "You don't want to be late after you've blown them off a couple of times. I'll be outside the restaurant waiting"

"Roger Casey, we'll be there in a few. Come on Chuck lets go." Sarah motioned for him to follow her.

The new Communications equipment allowed the surveillance van that Casey was in to be as far as five miles away. He was already in place. Once in the car they did a radio check.

"Watcher, Bluebird up" Sarah said as she started the car and began to head to the restaurant.

"Sparrow up. How come I got Sparrow anyway?" Chuck complained

"Watcher, I'll explain it to Sparrow later. We've departed the bird house and are en route to the feeder."

They met up with Jones and his wife at the restaurant where they enjoyed a nice meal and pleasant conversation. Chuck listened intently to everything Jones had to say, hoping something would cause him to flash. They talked about everything from stocks to possible joint business ventures. Sarah was actually having fun talking to Jones wife. Dinner went longer than the two couples had planned so Jones said,

"Instead of cutting the evening short, would you like to come back to our place? I would really like to see if Chuck is as good at gaming as he says he is."

"Tony you are so on!" Chuck said excitedly, but then realized his mistake. "Well um, if it's ok with Sarah?"

Blair gives out a small chuckle, "You have him well trained I see. It took me forever to get Tony to ask if he could leave me alone to go play games."

"Men" Sarah said with a shrug. "Sure babe we can go. We can't stay too late; you have an early meeting tomorrow."

With the plans settled they departed and headed to the Jones house.

"Watcher did you copy last?"

"Roger, Bluebird, keep an eye on Sparrow or you may not get him to leave."

"Understood Watcher, Bluebird out"

"Guardians, Birds are leaving the feeder and heading to the wolf's den. Will advise when the birds are in the den, Watcher out."

Chuck and Tony were in the middle of a heated battle in the game and Sarah and Blair were discussing fashion tips. Blair figured since Sarah was a former model; why not pick up some tips?

"Damn Tony, this game is almost as bad as the party you had."

"You're not kidding there. I have no idea what my former partner was thinking. I fired him and he said he would get even and had the connections to get it done. I'm just glad I got out of there when I did. I heard it was a blood bath."

"Thankfully I passed out from drinking too much. I thought you said it was your business, you never said you had partners. When I research a business for possible opportunities I usually try to link up with companies that only have one owner. It gets me more money." _This financial stuff must have been one of the extras they put in._

"I wasn't until about six months ago. I caught my ex-partner sending money to some charity, I think it was called CFCB."

Chuck flashed on the initials. "I never heard of them, but when I saw the amounts he was depositing I flipped. He had receipts and all but it was way too much to claim. So I severed ties with him. They haven't seen a dime from me since."

The two wives were wondering how they could play the game and discuss business at the same time. They decided it must be a man thing.

"That must have been a shock. I don't want to pry but what's your ex partners name? You know I'm trying to expand my business interests out here and I would hate to get screwed like you did."

"Brian Wells, a friend of mine from Michigan State." Chuck flashed on the name. "When he bought in to the business he asked not to be put on the official papers. It had something to do with a conflict of interest."

"Conflict of interest, that doesn't make any sense." Chuck gave Tony a confused look, hoping to draw him deeper into the web he was weaving.

"Have you ever dealt with the government before?"

Chuck gave him a little head shake.

"We were planning on bidding on some building contracts with them. Brian claimed that since he used to work for them and still had friends there it would look like we were given information on the other bids. Since it wouldn't affect my business I just left it off. Shit, I just got wasted."

Chuck gave Sarah the signal that he had some information. Sarah caught it and began to stretch and yawn.

"Chuck I'm tired, are you about ready to leave?"

"Let me help Tony put the games up and we can head out."

On the way out the couples decided they would get together the next time Chuck and Sarah were in town.

"Watcher, Birds heading to nest ETA twenty minutes. Sparrow has caught the worm and will feed Mother Hen at nest, Bluebird out."

"Roger Bluebird, will relay ETA. See you at the Nest."

Thirty minutes later the intersect team with along with Gabriel and Sirella were sitting around the conference room table waiting to contact the General. The twenty foot screen flickered and came to life. The image that appeared on the screen set off several different reactions. Two broke out in hysterical laughter, one grunted in disgust, and two of utter disbelief. Displayed before them on the mammoth HD screen was a buck naked General Beckman and her equally naked fiancée Jennifer who was happily feeding the General grapes via her lips. To Chuck, Casey and Sarah, who were frozen place by the scene before them, it seemed like hours before they saw Jennifer start to move. Chuck would later say it was like watching a train wreck happen, you know you should turn away but you can't.

Jennifer was now pointing at the screen when she calmly said, "Diane, you left your fucking computer on again."

This snapped the General out of her reverie. She had been nibbling on her lovers' neck just seconds before. She froze when she saw most of her team members looking back at her. Thoroughly flustered, she did the first thing that came to her mind. She ran to the computer and started hitting the keys to shut it down, which of course, gave her team an even better view of her nakedness. Jennifer, who seemed incredibly calm during the entire episode walked over to the computer and nudged her lover out of view.

"Can you please call back in about ten minutes? Apparently neither of us knows how to shut this thing down. Thanks." Then just as calmly, she turned and walked to the bed and got in. Thankfully for the team the General did not make another appearance. Gabriel finally cut the video feed and turned to his team mates.

"Well that was interesting don't yah think?" turning to his wife he began laughing again "That has to be the funniest thing I have ever seen."

"No way in hell. Remember when we went to the lunch room with the Boss and her wife, and we caught Kath and Roe in the act on the table, Kath rolled off so fast that Roe's hand got caught on the table and she broke three of her fingers? Now that was funny!"

"Oh yeah I forgot about that." He continues laughing only harder "I got another one for you, when Harry and Tom were in.." he was abruptly cut off by Casey who along with Sarah had gotten back their control while Chuck was still working on getting his back.

"STOP IT for the love of all that is Holy stop!"

"Would that be Smith and Wesson or H and K?" quipped Chuck. _Casey's yell must have got me back._

"Guys we only have a few minutes before we call Beckman back," Sarah interjected.

"I hope she has clothes on this time. Once certainly was enough for me" Chuck mumbled under his breath, but not low enough. _Ok that's two couples I've seen naked and not ones I wanted to either._

Just then a memory popped into chucks head, "I've met Jennifer before! When I was looking for Sarah's engagement ring Bill took me to a place called Jen's House of Jewelry. She is the owner of the shop. She sold me your ring! That's what she meant when she said, 'I wish mine would realize that.' She said it right after I told her how special you were."

"It better be enough. What took you so long to look away, Huh?" huffed his wife. _I really didn't need to see them either._

"Me, what about you? You were frozen as well!" argued Chuck _ok its official she's nuts._

"It doesn't matter if I look," _he's too easy_

"Why?" _huh_

"Because I'm a woman that's why."

"And that makes it Ok?" _I'm not going to win this._

"Yep"

"Alright you win."

"I always do"

"Yeah you do. The Generals fiancée is pretty good looking don't you think?" _Shit just when it was almost safe_

"You were checking her out too?" _I have to admit the General did land a hottie._

"Chuck stop before you get in any deeper" Sirella tosses out.

"Sarah you know I only have eyes for you."

"Nice save Babe."

"Ok team I got the General back." Gabriel calls out getting everyone's attention back where it should be.

This time the General is sitting at the computer in casual clothing. "Before we start I like to ask if Jennifer can be involved from now on. It will make late night briefings like this easier."

"It's your show General. I'm Ok with it as long as the discussion we had earlier today stays between us. Explain to Jennifer the ramifications of loose lips." Gabriel said.

"Jen honey, come on in" Jen walked in, dressed similar to the General and sat next to her. "These people are the members of the special team I was put in charge of. On the far right is Agent Casey NSA, to his right is Agent Bartowski CIA, to his right is his wife Agent Bartowski CIA, to her right is Sirella and to her right is her husband Gabriel. Team this is my fiancée Jen."

Jen gave a little wave.

"We gathered a lot of good information tonight. Jones has an ex-partner Brian Wells who is now Fulcrum. He was the one sending the money to a charity called CFCB it's a legitimate charity but many of its clients have less than desirable intentions. Jones said all the deposits were done electronically, so we have all their transactions traced. Sarah and I don't believe Jones is involved. We need to check his records. He claims he fired Brian six months ago. If the deposits stopped around then it will tell us if he is telling the truth. We have a recording of the mission that we will pass along."

"Good work Chuck and Sarah. It seems we have good start so far and with the information gathered tonight our analysts show be busy for a while."

"Ma'am I would like to point out that Chuck did a great job tonight getting the information from Jones," Reported Casey.

"I will make a note of it in his file. Anything else?"

"One last thing, Sirella and I were talking and we need to ask you one very important question that came up this evening."

"Proceed"

"We need to get this straight; you took around twenty years to propose to the lovely creature next to you. But you have each other's' names tattooed your butts. That makes no sense to us"

Jen jumped in, "Tell me about it. It was a semimonthly battle for years. The tattoos where her idea in the first place, but did she ask me to marry her, nooo. I'm like what the hell, babe we pretty much branded each other, right. I'd never be able to get laid again with her name there right?"

"JENNIFER!" _oh dear Lord._

"Hush Di, they've seen it all any way. Where was I? Oh yeah. So after I say yes I ask her to go pick out wedding rings. You know what she says? No you don't so I'll tell you. She says no rings. Using some lame ass excuse about being found out. I'm like Huh? We go everywhere together, all the balls and dining ins. After twenty years of seeing us together, her people are either smart enough not to care or too stupid to live. Don't ask don't tell and all that. So instead of rings we are getting …"

"JENNIFER no more please, I have to work with these people. Dear God Hon give me a break please," the General begged.

"Since you asked nicely and said please ill drop it, for now. Gabriel, call back around five. She doesn't get home till six." Seeing her lover get flustered she beat a hasty retreat. "Oops gotta run, bye, nice meeting you all. I knew she would like the ring Chuck!"

"Beckman out," and the connection closed.

"Well that was fun, NOT!" Chuck finally managed to get out. _We have to find a way to fix what happened. I can't take that again. The super spy or whatever he is just chats away like it's nothing. Like it's every day you see your Boss naked and ready to have sex. _

Casey was another story; _this is so not happening to me. The general is a lesbian, tattooed, and now getting ... Oh and I can't forget the big one, I almost saw her having sex. Naked was bad enough but kissing too? Karma is a bitch sometimes. Then there's then there's Gabriel, I figured I got an ally, a kindred spirit in a war hero. Sadly no, he was worse than Chuck. Really, who discusses their superior's sex life?_

Sarah was still trying to wrap her head around what happened, _that conniving BITCH! Relationships are bad, who is she kidding. Is she loud and proud? No, does she ever leave Jen home, nope. I'll give her credit though; her girl is good looking, who would have thought? And she's really funny, 'we got branded and I'd never get laid again'. If I wasn't in shock I would have laughed my ass off. Then Gabriel for lack of a better term calls the General an idiot for waiting to propose. He talks about killing like its nothing, then talks about all the people he has caught having sex. Dude's nuts._

"Casey, when you get the financial information, let my team know. You guys did well tonight and should go home and get some rest. If the General has anything for you I'll pass it on. Sirella and I will be gone for a few days setting up the new facility near your new home. My team has completed most of the work but we need to put the finishing touches on it. Enjoy the rest of your night." Gabriel concluded as he escorted the team to their vehicles.

The following morning Sarah and Casey started Chuck's training. They decided to divide his training into three parts. Devon would be the cardio and physical portion. Devon put together a plan that would start Chuck off slowly and gradually escalate to the level that would be good for him. Sarah would take care of the martial arts and knife throwing part of his training. Casey would handle the small arms and weapons qualifications. Chuck would spend part of each day working with his instructors and working on the daily reports. Then he would look over the reports the General would send him. After his first full day of training, Chuck begged Sarah to shoot him because the pain of the gun shot would only be in one place, and not all over like his present state. Sarah just laughed and dragged him into the bedroom to massage away his pain. Of course one thing led to another and they never left the room again except to _refuel_ as Chuck called it.

As more days passed, Chuck began to hurt less after each work out. He had improved slightly better than Devon had expected. The same held true for the training he was getting from his two partners. During this time Morgan was trying to get together with Chuck to play COD before he left, and was tired of being pushed to the sidelines. Morgan figured he was Chuck's friend longer than Sarah was his wife so she owed him some gaming time. He began planning an assault on Chuck's room that would insure he got time with Chuck.

Gabriel finally called to let them know he was back in town and that everything was ready to go; and they were allowed to postpone the move until after Thanksgiving. He had convinced the General to change the move date till the 4th of December so Chuck and Sarah could spend the holiday with his sister. To the team's relief he had paid a visit to the General and corrected the minor issue with the computer in her house. He wanted Casey to plan his move on the 1st of December to set up the arms room in a way that was best for the team, and to check the indoor range. The movers would arrive on the 3rd to pick up their things. Another truck would be waiting at the airport to get the Porsche when they left for good.

Two days before Thanksgiving, Sarah's phone rang, waking her up. She disengaged herself from Chuck and grabbed her phone, "Bartowski, Secure"

"I just got some information on Wells and the Charity you supplied me. Be at the nest at nine so we can go over it, Beckman out."

"She gets grumpier every time we talk to her." Groaned Chuck in a sleep laden voice.

"I think she is still unsettled by us after we saw her naked and almost having sex."

"Excuse me while I hurl. Really Sarah did you have to bring that up again?"

"We need to get ready and Head out," was all Sarah said in response.

At nine they were all seated in the nest when the General came on. She explained the expanse of the finical network that had been uncovered, and plans were made to slowly start freezing the assets of those involved. The next item on the agenda was a quick mission that Chuck and Sarah would need to do that morning.

"Agents Bartowski, when we ran Wells' name through our records we came up with the same information Chuck gave us. We combined the first and last names of all his known aliases and came up with a hit on Terry Brooke. He owns a small book store down town. I dispatched a team to do recon and they confirmed it is Wells. You need to get into his computer and upload a virus that will send us all the information plus allow us monitor his traffic. The store is closed for the week and the security system is simple. Gabriel has loaded the virus on a flash drive for you. Are there any questions?"

"No Ma'am I'm good" Replied Casey.

"Sounds simple enough, we should be done by noon, so should we brief here at one?" asked Chuck.

"I have a meeting at one so we will schedule for two instead. If that's all, Beckman out."

"Ok Chuck let's get the drive and do this. Casey you follow in the van for backup," Sarah said.

On the ride over, Chuck's phone rang and Morgan's face appeared on the screen. "Hey bud what's up?"

"I am on the way to your place so I can kick your ass at Halo."

"Not today we're not home right now and won't be 'til about three." Chuck glanced over at Sarah for approval both knowing what was coming next. She gave him a slight nod of her head. "Can you make it then?"

"Sure Chuck, but we need to have a serious talk. Sarah is taking up all your time and you'll be leaving soon and I want my time now!" Morgan's voice had grown louder the longer he spoke.

"Fine see you then." And he hung up.

The mission went off without a hitch and they were on their way back by eleven. Both their phones went off at once displaying '_Security breech: Bird House_' Sarah changed directions and headed home. Thankfully they were just minutes away.

Morgan finished his call to and continued on to Chuck's. His plan was simple, use the Morgan door to get in then start playing Halo. With Devon and Ellie at work he would have no problem. He was betting that Chuck wouldn't change his mind if he was already playing when they got back. His plan had gone flawless so far and he was already in Chuck's room. As he made his way across it to the gaming area he noticed a laptop sitting on the desk. _Nice wonder where he got this. We don't anything like this at Buy More. Sleek and lightweight. Let's see what this puppy can do. It's fast too. Password protected, I should be able to get in. nope that's not it. _He continued trying to get in. what Morgan didn't know was the laptop had sent an alert to the nest and all the agents phones as soon as he powered it up. The power button had finger print recognition software attached and if the print did not match one on the list of authorized users it sent out the alarm and its' location.

Gabriel was on his way to the store when his phone alerted him to the breech at the Bird House, and he was minutes away, he changed course and headed there as fast as he could breaking all the traffic laws currently in effect. His plan was equally simple, use the Morgan door, disable the unauthorized user find out what they found, if anything and kill them, simple.

Several things happened at the same time, Chuck and Sarah entered from the front and Gabriel through the window, Morgan looked up to check the time and saw a strange man by the window. As Sarah and Chuck were getting near the door a single gunshot was heard. Gabriel raised his weapon and put one round in Morgan's shoulder joint shattering it. Morgan felt a horrific pain then his world went black. Sarah and Chuck burst in with their guns drawn and the intersect feeding Chucks brain all relevant information. _**Chance of firing first...low … less than acceptable, chance of death…high … not acceptable, chance of Sarah dying to protect him...high … not acceptable. Target lessening threat level good if not provoked…good…acceptable **_

Their attention went straight towards Gabriel who started to lower his weapon. Gabriel spoken a voice that reminded them of the first day they met. Gone is the voice tinted with humor they had heard so much of the last couple of days; replaced with the chilling monotone of a stone cold killer, "I have secured the room and disabled the intruder. Medical and back up are en route, I need to work on the perp until they arrive."

".MORGAN!" screamed Chuck as he cradled his injured friend.

"No Chuck I disabled the unauthorized person trying to hack into your team's laptop" hissed Gabriel as he made his way to Morgan to start working on him. He tore open the shirt covering the wound and poured a gray powdery substance into the wound. The bleeding stated to slow almost immediately. Sarah, though shocked and very pissed, was still able to understand what happened. Gabriel was a trained spy like herself, and though she hates to admit it, he's much better than she is. He was notified of the breech and took out the threat. There were no emotions involved, just the need to keep the computer safe and in his view he did. She can see it his eyes, they are black as coal with no hint of remorse.

"Chuck, Morgan will be fine," Sarah soothed him. "I've seen wounds far worse than this and the person lived. Give Gabriel a chance to help him till the medical team arrives"

Chuck, shaken to the core over what happened, was sobbing silently while mumbling "Why, damn it why? He's my friend damn it. You didn't need to shoot him. You could have just told him to stop; you didn't have to shoot him!"

"Chuck, if you want me to help Morgan, shut up. We will discuss what happened and why at the nest. Sarah, go meet the team in the living area." As soon as Gabriel finished speaking, voices could be heard in the main living area.

A short time later, Sarah returned with a group of four consisting of the Doctor, Sirella, a blonde that looked familiar and a tall red head she hadn't seen before.

The Doctor went over to where Chuck and Gabriel were and began to evaluate the extent of Morgan's injury. Morgan, by this time was starting to regain consciousness and the pain in his shoulder reminded him he was shot. The Doctor noticed the pain flash across his patient's face gave him a shot to dull the pain. "You are very lucky to be alive young man" stated the Doctor as he started an IV, all the while mumbling about antiquated medical practices. This earned him a slap on the back of the head from Sirella and a glare from the red head. "Well it's true!" Finished the Doc.

"What do you mean lucky?" Morgan questions as the drugs start to dull both his pain and his senses "I shouldn't have even been shot and who are you people?"

"I have been with him" pointing at Gabriel "for a long time and you are the first one I had to work on. All the others are dead. He never leaves survivors." Explained the Doctor, "He's ready to go, let's get him back to the medical wing so I can fix him up."

Sirella jumped into the conversation "Doc and Sarah you help Morgan out to the van, Megan and Sam do the cleanup, and Gabriel you're with me. Let's go people, we need this place clean and empty when the Doc's get back." She exited the room dragging Gabriel behind her.

A short while later found the entire team in the briefing room passing on the mission details and the shooting of Morgan to General Beckman. While the General was ecstatic over the successful mission and the data that was starting to come in, she was a little less than pleased over the shooting. "Would you mind explaining what caused you to shoot Mr. Grimes?"

"General, during our previous discussions I informed you what would happen if an unauthorized person were to gain access to any of our equipment. I received the breach warning and the location, the same as the rest of the team. I was close so I responded. I know Chuck keeps the computer in his room so I went in through the window hoping to surprise the person causing the breach. Upon entering the room I saw an unknown male attempting to gain access to the laptop. I raised my weapon and prepared to take the kill shot. At the last second I noticed the man was Morgan and knew he should have the right to explain why he was trying to hack into Chuck's laptop. I altered my shot and disabled Morgan. I explained to everyone that is present here that I don't make idle threats; I guess they believe me now. You already know the rest General."

"I agree with your assessment of the situation but I would caution you on the use of excessive force. If at all possible try not to or kill innocent people" cautioned the General, "you are slowly teaching me that."

"Agreed General, but there is something I need to make perfectly clear," Gabriel continued with a voice as cold as ice, giving each person at the table an icy glare "your team has in its possession things that nobody else on this planet has. I cannot and will not let anyone get their hands on it. If someone has unauthorized possession of any of it, I will always take the approach to shoot first and ask questions later. The same goes for my team. I hope we agree on this point."

"Team I hope we have an agreement on this." Seeing the nods around the table the General ended the briefing.

Chuck, who was still seething mad even after the explanation given to the General, turned on Gabriel and launched his verbal attack. "What give you the right to shoot my friends? They're harmless for goodness sake! Morgan couldn't find his way out of a paper bag that's open on three sides; let alone get into a secure computer!"

"Can I handle this one Babe?" Sirella asked as she rose out of her chair and moved to stand behind her husband, resting her hands lightly on his shoulders.

"It may be for the best, I am still trying to calm down after tonight. I will be in the gym if you need me" and he departed.

"I'll explain that in a minute but first, one of our teams could really use some help that only you can give us. We have been keeping tabs on a medium level target for a while without his knowledge. He has a very important position in the IRS. The mark spends a lot of time in sports chat rooms and playing poker online. We made contact with him in one of the Mets chat rooms. The problem is our mark has as much common sense as a bag of burning hair. He prattles on endlessly about his friend's girlfriend. Hell everyone online knows what she looks like and how great she is. I could point them out the minute they walked into the room. Pretty soon we have a small steady group that meet on a regular basis. We did a check on the IP addresses of the regulars and started gathering information on them. Turns out most of them work for the Government in one way or another." Sirella took a short break to look at the team, two of the three looked like they were starting to figure it out.

"Soon these people start accidentally meeting up with him, not very often mind you, but enough. That brings us to today. We need to know if the people he is meeting can be trusted. Since you have the Fulcrum data in your head we need you to check out these names." She passed a stack of photos to Chuck, who flashed on several of them. "What is your assessment?" She asked when she saw he had finished flashing.

Chuck took a minute to formulate a plan before answering. "Several of them are Fulcrum but not very high up the chain. Most have backgrounds in computer programming and cryptology. One is a freelance hacker that has done time for hacking into Microsoft and planting a virus. I would bring him in and see if the agents have requested any favors from him. They may want him to help hack into the IRS system, or one from another part of the Government."

Sirella then passed another stack of pictures to Chuck, and then watched as the color drained from his face. Sarah and Casey both noticed the change in Chucks face and demeanor and glanced at the new pictures. Their fears were confirmed, Morgan had been making contact with the Fulcrum agents.

"Morgan's not Fulcrum, he can't be," Chuck said in a voice so soft he could barely be heard. Sarah reached over and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"We don't believe he is, but we have no way of knowing until we talk to him."

"Why were you following him anyway? He doesn't know a thing. He thinks I am a Nerd Herder with a hot wife."

Sarah gave him a small smile for the compliment.

"From the first day you downloaded the intersect we put our people in place. We have at least one person close to the people you care about. We like to call it nonintrusive surveillance. We never listen to them or worry about what goes on in their homes. We just observe from the outside. We did have to put two people in the hospital though. It was done for Ellie and Devon's protection nothing else. If someone held a knife to Ellie's throat you'd roll over in a heartbeat." Sirella told him.

Casey just grunted knowing it was true.

This aggravated Chuck a bit and he voiced it "Sarah and Casey are doing very good at keeping me safe, thank you very much. The rest don't know anything."

"Chuck do the math!" Sirella said, starting to get mad. "You have got to be the dumbest smart man I have ever met. They don't have to know anything. Fulcrum knows who Sarah and Casey are because of the agents that have defected to them over the years. They are trained spies as well, just not as good as these two. They eventually put two and two together and got four! Why would the CIA and NSA have two of their better agents stationed in one place so long? And why were you always with one of them? If that's not a dead giveaway that you are an important asset then I don't know what is. What we can't figure out is who the mental idiot is who thought it would be ok for everyone you know to walk around without someone looking out for them. So far there have been over twenty attempts made against Ellie and Devon. We have stopped them all. Fulcrum doesn't care who they hurt or kill as long as they get you. Everyone else is just a pawn in their game."

This statement took not only Chuck by surprise but his partners as well. Sirella was right, they had put countless resources into protecting Chuck but very few were intended to protect his family. The apartment had motion sensors, video and audio feeds inside and out. The truth was that there was nothing in place to protect either Ellie or Devon when they were at work or outside the apartment.

The mostly one sided conversation continued on for several more hours until all questions were answered and the teams fears put to rest. The Doc came by and gave them an update on Morgan, informing them that Morgan would be fine and was being taken to a regular hospital. The cover story would be a home invasion that went bad.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: In this chapter we learn the final truths about Gabriel's team. Guess what? I still don't own Chuck or STV. On a technical note, there were some issues when I entered this in word from open office. There were extra breaks put in all over the place and some breaks got left out, so if it looks ragged I tried to catch them all but may have missed some. Don't blame my Beta BDaddyDL for them, he did a great job fixing my garbled mess. Also please read the A/N 2 and 3 at the bottom. If I put the info here it may ruin the chapter for you! Please enjoy. One last thing, the mansion in this chapter is real and is located on the mainline just outside of Philadelphia.**

The day finally arrived for Sarah and Chuck to leave Burbank behind and head east to their new home. Sarah was almost in tears as her beloved Porsche was being prepared for shipping. She made it perfectly clear that if they put one scratch on her car, she would come back to seek revenge on the person who did the damage. Once the inanimate love of her life was safely loaded in the semi that would eventually transport it to their new home, Sarah was finally able to relax. As the couple made their way to the ticket counter to check their bags and get their seat assignments, they were approached by a pair of men that Chuck flashed on as being part of General Beckman's personal security detail.

"Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael, we've been sent to escort you to your transportation. Would you please follow us?" one of the agents asked.

A short while later they arrived at a small private hanger where they found General Beckman and Jennifer waiting for them. "Good afternoon Chuck and Sarah. Welcome to Carmichael Air. Please board the plane and take you seats." Jennifer said with a small chuckle after noticing the surprised looks on the couple's faces. It only took a few minutes to board the plane and stow their bags. As the plane was preparing for departure General Beckman took the time to explain what was going on.

"In short time you have been working with Gabriel; we've been able to freeze several hundred million dollars in assets that were headed to terrorist groups and Fulcrum itself. Between the information we got from Well's computer, and the leads from the CFCB charity, we have been able to put a major dent in some of the smaller groups. It seems to be having a trickle up effect as well. Some of the larger groups are starting to get nervous. We've been getting a small amount of Fulcrum agents that were identified by Chuck to roll over." Beckman pauses to allow her agents to process the information she has just provided them.

"This plane was seized after the arrest of a major contributor who's arrest came after we analyzed the intelligence we gathered from Well's computer. We figured it would integrate nicely as part of Chuck's cover of wealthy businessman. Since it won't cost us any money except maintenance and fuel, we decided to use it. You will have a fully staffed flight crew at your disposal twenty four hours a day."

"Thank you General. Is something important going on that you came out here to see us?" asked Sarah.

"Not at all Sarah, I took some leave time and since Jen has never been to Disneyland, I decided to bring her out here. I got the call a couple days ago that we seized this plane and decided to use it for our operation. We're just going to fly back with you since private planes are so much better than commercial ones. We will be dropped off in DC, and then you will continue on to Philadelphia. I've taken the liberty of having your limo standing by at the airport waiting for your arrival."

They spent the part of the trip discussing some upcoming missions but for the most part they just relaxed and talked about mundane things. "We're about half way there guys. Have either of you been to Philadelphia?" asked Jen.

"I've never been past the Mississippi, so it will be really different for me. The good thing is, I'll get to see lots of things I have never seen," answered Chuck.

"Despite the numerous missions I was involved in I never spent any time in Philly. The closest I ever got was New York. I think the highlight for me will be able to do and so many new things with Chuck for the first time."

"Diane has been telling me a bit about where you two will be living. I really think you guys will be amazed at the house Gabriel's team got for you. Do you know what the best part of your moving to the main line is? You can go watch the World Series Champions play!" Jen said loudly enough to wake Beckman from her nap.

"Oh please Jen the only reason they won was because the umps missed all those calls" whined Beckman.

"Oh here we go! Back to blaming the umpires again are we? Why can't you just accept the fact that we were the better team, and we whooped your team's ass," Jens voice was starting to get louder as she rose from her seat to face Beckman.

Beckman never one to back down, immediately rose to accept her girlfriends challenge and got right in her face, "You know damn right well that it was a bad call at third and he was safe!"

Chuck and Sarah were starting to get nervous thinking that the heated argument would lead to blows.

"Yeah but they tried to give you the game when they let you tie the score before they postponed it because of rain!" Jen yelled back at Beckman.

Just as Beckman was preparing her counter attack she glanced over and saw the panicked look her two agents' faces and she started to laugh. "Jen, check out Chuck and Sarah!"

Jen turned to look and a smile crossed her face as well. "Sorry about that display guys. You need to understand Diane and I are both die hard baseball fans. I am a huge Philadelphia Phillies fan and Diane is a fan of the Tampa Bay Rays. If you think that was bad, you should have seen us during the World Series."

"God, it was horrible. We fought so bad I thought we might break up over it. We slept in separate rooms until the series ended. So that little outburst was nothing," Beckman added.

"From the sounds of it, our house should have plenty of room, so you can stay with us when you come to check on the missions." offered Chuck.

The heated debate over, they decided to put in a movie, and relax for the rest of the trip. Several hours later they were met at the airport by Gabriel, Sirella and Casey. From there they were taken to the waiting limo and shuttled off. A short drive later, everyone arrived at their new home. As they approached the house, they saw it was surrounded by a large brick wall that stood at least ten feet tall. The entrance way was guarded by a large iron gate that was being opened by a guard that had been stationed there. They entered the drive passing through the gate which was promptly closed by the guard. The view was spectacular. The long driveway turned into a circular one that would allow cars to drive up to the front door of the mansion, drop off its passengers and continue on around and exit on the main drive. Inside the circular drive was a fountain centered in a large garden.

Chuck was stunned at the size of the mansion and the beauty of it. Sarah was also taken by surprise by the mansion. Sirella started to explain a little about the house as they approached the front door.

"This house is one of the last remaining grand country estates on the Main Line. The Main Line got its name from where it was built. The Pennsylvania Railroad's main line ran through this area and the towns were built along its route. Many of the wealthiest Philadelphia families built their estates in these towns. To this day it remains home to most of the areas wealthy families. This property is a gated private enclave resting on 6 acres surrounded by a ten foot high brick wall. I felt this would allow us to provide better security for Chuck and Sarah. As we continue walking around you'll notice there are several charming courtyards and walkways."

"Gabriel and I have already taken in viewing some of the beautiful Terraces that are located around the property. When you entered the property you saw one of the many majestic fountains that are located on the grounds."

"Wow" was all Chuck could say.

"I have been in some very nice mansions in my career but I have never been around one like this. From what I can tell it has a French flair to it. Chuck's right, it's just wow" Sarah added.

"I'm glad you like it so far," Sirella smiled brightly and continued, "And you're right about the French flair. It's a Horace Trumbauer designed French Chateau. The residence encompasses over 22,000 Square Feet and has been meticulously restored to its original splendor, while including all of today's modern conveniences. I'll go into more details on the house itself after we finish the tour of the outside. As head of security the wall was a big selling point for me until I toured the grounds and house."

After a few minutes of walking Sirella began talking again "In a minute or so you'll see a reflecting pond. You'll notice all around the ground the numerous stately mature trees and the enchanting gardens that were designed by the Olmstead Brothers. A little further along we will come to the swimming pool and open air Pavilion."

"Granted you will only get five months use out of it but it came with the estate. We added a few new items to the property that will come in handy. We had a helicopter pad built in case we need to evacuate you quickly or need to be somewhere on short notice. We made sure it cannot be seen from the residence or the grounds close to it. I knew you would be tired and hungry after the long flight so I had some hoagies delivered to the pavilion. Take your time and enjoy the food. Meet me in the foyer in about an hour and we'll show you around the residence."

Sarah, Chuck and Casey were sitting around the table eating while enjoying the view and just chatting in general. Casey was slightly annoyed that the Government had spent such a large amount on the residence. He claimed it was a waste of money. Chuck countered his point by saying that they would just sell it when the mission was over and the net cost to the Government would be nothing. Sarah just sat back and watched the two men engage in the argument. Sarah was really excited to be in such a place with no dangerous missions on the horizon. When they finished eating and chatting they headed back to the residence.

Sirella and Gabriel were waiting for the trio as they returned from the pavilion. "So are you ready to see your new place?"

Sirella began the tour starting with the foyer. "The main rooms you will be using on a daily basis will be the Family Room, Dining Room, and Breakfast Room. When you entertain your clients and friends there are a number of rooms available for use. There is the Grand Reception Hall, Ballroom, Library, and even a Billiard Room. The last of the major rooms are the Gourmet Kitchen and Conservatory."

While Sirella was going over the main rooms of the residence, Gabriel was watching Chuck. He couldn't decide if Chuck looked more like a dead fish, or a dear that had been hit by a car and left on the side of the road. He was just standing there with his mouth open, and his tongue hanging uselessly out of the side of his mouth. His eyes were large as saucers and his face had gone slightly pale. _He looks like he's going to pass out from all this excitement. I'm going to have to get the Doc to help him calm down._

"The first thing I would like you take notice of is the grandly proportioned rooms. They are attractive and impressive being richly colorful with highly crafted architectural details. We took great care to get you furniture fit in with the opulence of the house. The residence includes 14 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms 3 powder rooms and a Wine cellar. Gabriel and I debated for a long time on which of the bed rooms to convert into secure offices. We decided on the two closest bedrooms to the master suite. We converted another bedroom into a training room. Casey really liked what we did to the wine cellar. It contains a medium sized armory that is fully loaded. There is also a range where you can keep up with weapons training."

The tour of the residence took several hours. Chuck and Sarah wanted to take their time and learn as much about the history of the house. They knew it would be good for their cover to know as much about the residence as possible. When the tour was complete, the group settled in the family room to settle any last minute issues.

Chuck had finally started to get over the shock of where he was going to be living for the foreseeable future, and a question came to him that he needed an answer to. "We're all set with the house but what do we do about clothes?"

"That's the big question you have after seeing our new house?" Sarah said the disbelief clear in her voice.

"Well yeah, I mean everything in here is done, and we didn't bring that much with us."

"Don't worry Chuck we have taken care of that as well. You'll be taking trips to the fashion capitols of the world to get your wardrobe. You already have fittings scheduled in New York, Paris, Milan, Barcelona and Sydney. With your wife being a former fashion model, it would be out of place for her not to be up on and wearing the latest fashion. The same goes for you Chuck. This next part is going to be hard on you. From this day forward you cannot be seen outside of the residence with those things on your feet." Sirella looked down pointing at his ever present Chucks "You come from money" Sirella answered.

"I never thought being a spy would require so much sacrifice" He said with a huff. This got a laugh out of almost everyone in the room and a nudge from Sarah. "I guess the one good thing to come out of this is I can see a lot of places I have never seen before. Maybe you can show me around Sarah."

"That's probably not going to work so well Chuck. I may have been in some of these cities before but it was never for very long. Like my mission in France. We landed in Paris then left right away to do the mission. It was well away from Paris. So I can actually see it for the first time with you."

"That works for me. One more question before we head to bed. How long till Sarah's Porsche gets here, and where is my Viper?"

"I knew I forget something when I was showing you around. There is an attached garage that has a private drive and gate. Your car is in there and Sarah's car should be here in a few days. The gate will not be manned like the front gate but has a security panel you use to open the gate."

Gabriel got up from the chair he was sitting in and helped his wife up. He moved so he was facing Sarah and Chuck who were ensconced on the large couch. "Before we go I have one final thing for Chuck and Sarah." He handed them a legal folder that contained quite a bit of paperwork. "Please take a moment to review these papers before we leave. You'll need to keep them somewhere safe."

They took the folder and began looking at the paperwork and found the title to Chucks car, the deed to the house and signed contracts for every for aspect of caring for the residence paid up for the next ten years.

Sarah was the first to speak up "You guys thought of everything for the cover. I will give you credit you guys are good."

Sirella started to giggle and pulled Gabriel into a hug. "You need to take closer look at the names on the paperwork. The names on the titles and deeds are your names. The CIA and NSA were not involved in the purchase of the property or anything else. They are a wedding present from us to you."

There was no way for Gabriel or Sirella to describe the looks that were on the newlyweds faces. It was later described to them as a cross between disbelief, shock, and utter happiness. For Chuck and Sarah, Alice's falling down the rabbit hole was nothing compared to what the couple is feeling_. I am just getting used to the fact that I am married to Chuck and my boss approves. The only house I wanted for a long time is the one I could share with Chuck. Now I own a palatial estate with the man I love. For the first time since, well maybe the first time in my life I can see myself with children._

Chuck reached a new level of amazement at how his life was turning out. _Just over a year ago my life was a mess. I was still wallowing in self pity and doubt, working in a dead end job. Then I got the Intersect stuck in my head. Sarah entered my life and fell hopelessly in love. My life got much better when I was allowed to date her. When I married her, I thought my life was as good as it was going to get. Now I have the woman of my dreams and a house I never thought I could ever have. Only children could make my life better than it is today._

Neither one could figure out what to say about the magnitude of the gift they had just received today, or several months ago, by the man they knew as Gabriel. They just hugged the two people who they could now call friends.

"I'm official confused. How can you give us something the government owns?"

"They didn't buy it for you, we did. Everything we just gave you, the residence, the plane and the services were bought by Gabriel and I. Gabriel told you we are independent contractors. We are currently working with the government, but are in no way associated with it. No government money was spent. We financed the items ourselves."

Chuck and Sarah decided they wanted to keep this little tidbit to themselves for a while and surprise his sister if she came out for a visit.

Several weeks had gone by, and it was nearing Christmas. Sarah and Chuck had spent the last several weeks traveling between the European fashion capitols getting fitted with all the latest fashions. Chuck was impressed by the service they received at each stop. Soon they had a collection from the new winter a spring collections. They attend a few of the Galas there were taking place during their trip. The General knew it was a good way for them to start integrating into the upper levels of society. They managed to make several contacts in the business world. Unfortunately for the team, they did not turn up any information they could use. It did however allow Chuck to increase his business opportunities.

The one thing that was never forgotten while they were away was Chucks training. As Sarah told Chuck, no matter where we are you can always run, do sit ups and pushups. Sarah kept him on track with his martial arts training. If they could not find a local business that would allow them to train, they would practice katas in the room. Chuck was surprised how fast some places would allow you just walk in use it if the price was right. Beckman had been informed prior to their departure what the itinerary for the couple would be. She made arrangements with either the local law enforcement agencies or the military for the use of their facilities. Beckman was adamant that Chuck's training not suffer while he was "out gallivanting the globe" as she put it. Chuck was progressing at a rate that was moderately ahead of the schedule that was set up when he started his training.

Sarah noticed about a month into his training that he was starting to bulk up and shed what little fat he had. His reflexes were getting faster, and his stamina had also improved. During his fifth week of training, he was still having trouble hitting Sarah as he when he sparred with her. Sirella decided to take matters into her own hands. She stormed into the training room in the residence and proceeded to beat the snot out of Chuck. Before he could get to badly injured Gabriel ran into the room and tossed Sirella off Chuck. That seemed to set her off, and as quick as a flash they two were locked in a heated battle. The fight didn't last long. Not because one of them got knocked out, but because they end up lip locked on the floor. As they hurried to the door Sarah asked them "what just happened" and Sirella yelled back "foreplay". Sarah used that event to prove to Chuck that he could land punches when they sparred. This was a turning point for Chuck.

The worst training Chuck and Sarah had to undertake was the etiquette lessons. They had to act the part of the rich and famous, not just look it. Sirella squelched any thoughts of their protesting by telling Sarah the CIA did train her but not near enough. She was given just enough to get by as arm candy, but not enough to pull off someone who has been living the stuffy rich lifestyle for the past number of years. Chuck was at a complete loss because he never even dreamed of living a life like he was now. He needed all the help he could get.

At the end of the second month the difference was clearly noticeable. He now had six pack abs, and well defined muscles. He could easily run seven miles a day, but they limited those long runs to once a week. He ran three miles on two days, and five on the fifth day. On his two mile days they incorporated sprints into the distance. Devon suggested this to aid in his quickness. He would hit the weight room several days a week. His goal was not to bulk up, but to develop strength and muscle mass. With his ever increasing strength and quickness, combined with his now formidable fighting skills, they were forced to use protective gear when they trained. So far in his training Chuck refused to use the help from the intersect. He wanted to as much on his own as he could.

Sarah had moved Chuck up from fighting against her, to them fighting against Sirella and Gabriel. Gabriel had suggested this to Sarah after watching them spar. His reasoning was simple. By just sparring with her he would eventually learn all her moves and be able to anticipate and defend against them. If he ever got into a fight with someone other than Sarah, he would not have any practice fighting someone with different moves and skills. Plus, by fighting as a team they would be able to anticipate each other's moves. All the practice would make them a very formidable and dangerous team. When the time came the plan was to have them fight against four to six opponents.

Casey was also impressed with Chuck ability to handle and master weapons. Though he was a bit slow at first, he quickly caught on and was proficient at several types of pistols. In the assault weapons class he had mastered the M-16/M4 family, the M-40A3 Marine Corp sniper rifle, and the various crew served weapons used by the US Military. Casey also included limited training on the AK-47 and most of the weapons used in NATO. Casey had explained to Chuck that he did not have to master these weapons, just be very familiar with them in case he ever needed to use one.

With Christmas just around the corner other plans had to be made. With Ellie and Devon preparing to move east to start at Johns Hopkins right after the New Year it was decided that Christmas would be celebrated at the Bartowski residence. Chuck scheduled his jet to pick them up on the twenty third of December. They had just finished eating when Sarah's phone rang "Bartowski secure"

"Beckman Secure, we have a mission for you in Burbank. I want a video conference in thirty minutes."

"Ma'am can we push it to the right by half an hour? Chuck and Casey are on a run and will return in about thirty minutes."

"Fine, I'll contact you in an hour. Beckman out."

An hour later almost to the second the communications equipment came to life and the face of General Beckman appeared. "We have a situation back in Burbank. A former CIA agent was arrested yesterday wandering around the streets of Los Angles. From the reports we have he was babbling like an idiot and drooling. The officer that brought him described him as 'bat shit crazy'. He kept mumbling down load bad over and over. We believe he may have ties with Fulcrum. He lives in the suburbs of Burbank. He may have picked his location to be close to other members or near the cell itself we're not sure. I have sent you an email with all the information we have. Are there any questions?" slight pause "Good luck then, Beckman out."

"Looks like you're going to the suburbs" states Casey.

"Hate to tell you big guy, but I don't think we can more suburban than this" Quips Chuck.

"Casey can you arrange for the plane to be ready in a couple hours? We are going to need time to pack." Sarah asks as she heads out of the room.

"How long can it take you to love birds to pack? Your CIA for cripes sake"

She stops and turn to face him with a look of disbelief on her face, "Think about it Casey. Since we got here we only wear top end designer clothes. We can't show up in _that _neighborhood wearing Vera Wang dresses and top end Armani suits. We need to unpack some of our old stuff. We may even need to go shopping to meet what's in our cover files. Why are you smiling Chuck?"

"I get to break out my Chuck's!"

"You're such a dork."

"Nerd actually but you put up with me anyway. We can also visit Ellie while we're there and if the mission goes well we can just have them fly back with us. We haven't told her about the plane or the palatial estate we own. It seems weird to say that."

"Sounds good to me now let's go. You can call Ellie on the way to the airport and let her know we're on the way and we'll see her tonight. Also ask if we can stay there until our cover house is ready instead of finding a hotel. "

"I'm sure they won't mind it's been a while since they saw us."

**Gabriel's headquarters east**

"Gabriel, we have a big problem," Gary said as he entered the conference room where the rest of the team was going over some old mission reports.

"Don't keep me waiting Gary you know I hate that," Gabriel said.

"We just got word from the Queen that Chuck and Sarah are going to die in three hours."

Gabe pinched the bridge of his nose. "And how was this small fact overlooked?" snapped Gabriel, as he stood up from his chair and began pacing around the room. "How did this small yet very important fact get over looked? And what are we going to fix this mess?"

"There is nothing we can do without affecting the future. They need to die in three hours."

"We reviewed all the relevant information on the Bartowski's and there was nothing in their future that suggested they were going to die so soon."

"That's true but the Bartowski's die in the plane crash that will happen within the next three hours; we are currently looking into the future of Ellie and Devon. Something the Gallian's did must have slightly altered the time line. Casey is the wild card in the equation. He has faked his death in the past so when we researched him and his trail ended we just assumed he did it again. The plane they just boarded was not the one they were originally scheduled to take, that flight arrives on time." Gary paused to take a deep breath and calm down, "They normally travel under their cover names while on missions, but because their jet is undergoing it's thousand hour maintenance check they had to fly commercial. They used their real names to buy their tickets. The NSA allowed their real names to be placed on the death certificates. The Bartowski's' will die on the plane that's headed to LAX."

"Damn it! We need options people and we need them fast," stated Gabriel. "We have less than three hours to come up with a plan."

"We can pull an Echo for them," suggested Liz.

"That won't work babe," countered Cameron. "These two are going to be on a plane that crashes, there's no way to get them off while they are in mid air. Plus their bodies have to be found to match the names on the manifest."

"I GOT IT" shouted Sam as she hurriedly entered the room. "Sorry, I was listening to the brief from the arms room. We can do an Echo we just need to modify the plans."

"Let's hear what you got Sam," Sirella urged.

"Compared to us, the way the conduct forensics is archaic at best. We can hack into any system they use including DNA data bases. We get two Jane Does from a morgue, get the DNA sample we need, and switch the information. We know Chuck and Sarah are on the plane that's in route to LAX, and just before it crashes, we beam them out and beam the bodies in. Two of our people do the autopsies on the bodies."

"That's all well and good Sam, but if we go that route, then we have to explain the ramifications to them," added Sirella.

"We did it for Echo didn't we? We just tell them the truth, like we did Echo," Sam countered.

"True, but what if they don't want to give up what they have?" Sirella proposed.

"Then we continue on without their help," Gabriel added. The members of Gabe's teams just looked at each other and understood the consequences if their mission failed and knew what that would mean for Chuck and Sarah.

"Get on it people, find two bodies that match the approximate height and weight of Chuck and Sarah. Sam, make sure that their bio sensors are working at peak efficiency, we can't afford a screw up on this. We need to beam them out just prior to impact, and beam in the bodies. We only get one shot at this lets make this count," Gabriel concluded and left the room.

**United flight 245 **

Chuck and Sarah were idly chatting when they heard a loud bang, and the plane pitched hard to the left and began to drop. It forced them hard against the seat belts that were restraining them. Screams and cries of panic erupted from the other passengers in the plane. The oxygen masks deployed just after the plane began its unaided decent. The sudden shift in weight of the bags stored in the over head bins forced many of the doors on the bins open. Carryon bags from the overhead bins fell out of the overhead compartments striking any passenger unlucky enough to be seated under them. Several passengers that failed to heed the warnings about being belted at all time found their heads and other body parts violently striking the over head bins and other parts of the aircraft. Most of the flight attendants were also tossed about the cabin like rag dolls. The loud creaking from the plane's fuselage as it strained against the new forces being applied could barely be heard over the screaming passengers. The plane was literally coming apart at the seams. Cracks were forming in the interior walls of the plane.

**Ghost's HQ**

"On your toes people," barked Gabriel "we only have one shot at this. Gary what's the transporter status?"

"We have a good lock on them. Once I get the signal from the Doc, I'll beam them out."

"Doc, it's in your hands now. Don't fuck it up." Gabriel snapped.

"So far vitals are stable. Adrenals just spiked, heart rate and respiration just elevated, oxygen levels dropping fast. Gary, get them out now!"

"Transporter lock good, beaming them out now."

**United flight 245**

Chuck and Sarah were barely being held in their seats as the plane continued its rapid descent to the ground. They were smashed together several times before they could link their hands together. Chuck and Sarah looked into each other's and squeezed their hands tighter; both knew they were going to die and despite their impending deaths there was no where they would rather be than with the love of their life, staring lovingly into each other's eyes when unconsciousness began to overtake them. Each noticed a green hue forming around them, and felt a strange tingling sensation throughout their bodies.

**Gabriel's HQ**

Soon after they beamed into the HQ Chuck and Sarah became more alert as the effects of their first transportation started to wear off. The first thing they both noticed was that they were no longer in a crashing plane, but back in Gabriel's headquarters and most of the team was standing around them with smiles on their faces

*"'el maj tuq Chuck and Sarah," spoke Sirella.

"chaH legh vIp," added Sam

"chaH qIp Hegh," finished the Doc. "tIq qIp 'ach tlhuH QIt"

"What the heck are you saying?" snapped Sarah "How did we get here?"

"tlhIngan, Klingon Sarah," answered Gabriel.

"Not any Klingon I have ever heard before," mumbled Chuck.

"That is true Chuck, because you have never heard real tlhIngan before." Gabriel raised his hands in the universal hold on motion. "Allow us to explain. You and Bryce speak what you two believe is Klingon. Think of it this way, you want to learn how to speak Italian, but you have never heard it before. So you make up some words that sound like a language. Then when you meet someone that actually speaks Italian, it sounds nothing like what you made up. That's what you're going through now. What you hear today, you will have a hard time accepting, but trust me when I tell you it's all true." Gabriel gave them the cliff notes version of who they really were and why they were here.

"That was a nice story Gabriel, but you can't expect us to believe that you don't live on this planet?" asked Sarah.

"Doc, please stand in front of Sarah. Sarah, when I tell you, I want you to use a spinning heel kick to the Doc's head. Doc decrease your matrix by fifty percent, now Sarah, attack the doc with intent to kill," stated Gabriel.

Sarah went into attack mode and unleashed a vicious kick aimed at the Doc's head. If Doc was human, he would have been on his butt from the assault. His decreased matrix allowed Sarah's kick to pass through, and she was the one who ended up on her butt. She jumped to her feet stunned that she had missed her intended target. She fired off a straight right hand to the Doc's head, which again failed to land. She watched as her arm passed through the Doc's head, she cautiously extended her hand and began to feel the Doc. No matter what she did she could not touch him, her hands just passed on through as if he were a ghost.

Chuck was standing there slack jawed at what he was seeing.

"Doc, return your matrix to normal" Gabriel commanded. The doc merely shrugged and did as he was asked. He seemed to flicker a bit, before he nodded indicating he was back to normal. "Now touch him again Sarah."

Sarah reached out and put her hand on the Doc, and this time unlike the other times her hand met a solid body. She pulled her hand back as she had just touched a plate that came out of an oven.

"Really Sarah, there is no reason to act like that," huffed the Doc.

"What the hell are you!"

"I'm a sentient Hologram of course," the Doc replied all the while puffing out his chest, and standing taller than he had been before.

Chuck strolled over to Doc and started randomly poking him in the shoulder. The doc just let out a huff and rolled his eyes.

Gabriel chuckled before starting again. "Sirella is Klingon, I am human and Borg, the rest of my team is human. I know what you are thinking Chuck, 'how can fictional beings you have seen on television be real?' Many people have said the truth is stranger than fiction, or lesser know quotes along the same lines. The fact is, there are many races of beings out there in space. In a universe as vast as ours the possibilities are limitless. Truth is other beings including the Borg have been through this sector of space and have made contact, planting the seeds and ideas that stories have been based on."

"I understand most of this, but Borg. You look completely human." Chuck asked.

"Watch this Chuck." Gabriel placed his right hand on the table that was used for briefings and curled his fingers forcing them into the table. His fingers made short work of the table top and he pulled a chunk out of it and held it up to the stunned couple. He released the piece of table and curled his hand into a fist and extended the assimilation tubules, and let them wiggle like two small snakes searching for something to strike.

"Now for the Piece de résistance, ever been to Paris? Soon you will have. Gary four to beam to the base of the Eiffel Tower, engage."

Seconds later Sarah, Chuck, Gabriel and Sirella were surrounded by the same green glow that engulfed them on the plane and the found themselves standing at the base of the Eiffel Tower.

"Well does that put a rest to your questions Chuck?" quipped Sirella. "Feel free to walk around for a bit. I know you must be shaken from the plane crash and everything you have heard so far."

Chuck and Sarah were holding on to each other for dear life, the feel of each other's bodies was the only thing that felt real about the entire day so far. They looked around to take it all in when Chuck noticed a TV through the window of a small café. It was showing the ground scene of a plane crash with a scroll underneath displaying United Flight 245. After Chuck pointed it out to Sarah the realization finally hit that the plane they were on earlier did indeed crash in a field in Kansas.

"Can we go back now?" Chuck asked in a shaky voice. With a nod of his head, Gabriel tapped his chest and seconds later they were back at HQ.

"Chuck and Sarah you now know all about us, but there is one more thing you need to know. As of this minute you two are dead, and have been since the plane crash. In order to save you we replaced your bodies and changed you DNA in the system. The Bartowski's will be declared dead. You now have a couple choices you can make, the first being to continue to work with us as the Carmichaels' and leave everything and everyone you know behind, letting them believe you did die in the crash. When the mission is over you return with us when we return to our time. The second is similar to the first, but we let a few people you know in on some of what you know and they come along as well. The third is the least favorable outcome for both of you. You reject our first two offers, and you do indeed die today. We cannot have you running around knowing what you know. If this knowledge got out it could be devastating to the future we know. There is a fourth option we are currently working on but it will take a while for us to figure out if it will work."

"Bullshit!" screamed Chuck and moved to advance on Gabriel his anger overcoming his common sense. Gabriel wasted no time in grabbing Chuck buy the neck and driving him backwards into the wall. Sarah jumped up and rushed to assist her husband. Before she could get close to Gabriel, she was grabbed from behind by a strong female hand and held back. She wheeled around to face her opponent and found herself staring into the face of a very enraged Sirella.

"Stand down Walker," Sirella growled out and applied enough pressure on Sarah's shoulder to force her to the ground.

By now Chuck was starting to fade into unconsciousness and Gabriel loosened his grip from around Chuck's throat. He got right in Chucks face and began to speak in a low deadly voice,

"We saved your ass today. The plane you were on did crash and everyone on it did die. Use your head Chuck! You were supposed to die today! You're not supposed to be here at all. So grow the fuck up, and quite whining. You got a gift no one has ever gotten before, so embrace this gift for now, and figure out what you want to do. Know this; I will kill you and Sarah if I have too. Why we are here goes way beyond normal. I explained why we are here, there untold worlds that will be affected by what happens here today. Your two lives are meaningless in the scope of things to come. Before you leave here today we need your answers. I'm going to rule out option three, I trust you really want to live."

"We need a few minutes to talk about this. We'll go into the training area for some privacy," Sarah informed the group, as she led Chuck out of the main conference room. Once they were alone Sarah took a deep breath and spoke to her husband, "Wow can this get any more crazy than it was before? I think we should take option one. We can make up a story that we had to fake our deaths for some reason and we now go by the name Carmichael. If we play it right, we may have to be the only ones to leave. We don't really have much of a choice."

"I understand that but I would hate to never see Ellie, Devon, and our other friends again."

"You saw the wreckage of the plane we were on, which reminds me, we better give them our answer quickly because your sister knows what flight we were supposed to be on. She is probably mourning our death right now. The longer we wait the harder it's going to be on her and Devon."

"Crap! Sarah your right about Ellie, I'm sure we can work out the details later and let Beckman know what's going on, well, as much as we can. Plus we need to get on another flight out to LAX."

"So we take option two for now, and see what happens. Let's head out and let them know what we decided. Let's go Chuck." They returned to the main conference room and were greeted by Gabriel's team.

"We're going to go for option number two for now, but reserve right to call on option number four if we need to. But first I need to call my sister she knows I was on the plane that crashed, she probably thinks I'm dead."

"Don't worry about your sister Chuck; we will take care of calling Ellie for you. With everything that has happened to you and Sarah today I think it's best if you don't speak to her until you have time to process everything. Now we have a plane to get you on."

**A/N 2: For those readers that are questioning the possible change in the future I'll explain my position. This story is based on the STV time line which happens after the original Star Trek timeline. In Star Trek IV: A Voyage Home the crew goes back in time to bring whales back with them to save earth. By completing the mission and saving Earth didn't they change the Future? If earth was destroyed along with most of the Federation leadership the timelines that followed would have been different, so the precedent was set to allow the future to be altered to save the present.**

**A/N 3: There are very few places to locate English to Klingon translations and most phrases don't translate well so excuse the broken English! **

'el maj tuq = enter our house

chaH legh vIp = they look afraid

chaH qIp Hegh = they beat death

tIq qIp 'ach = breath slowly

tlhuH QIt = heart beat even


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 9: The Burbs

A/N: I want to thank BDaddyDL for the beta work and helping out some with the plot. Next I want to point out the brain synapses part is true to the best of my knowledge. I did extensive research on it before I included it in the chapter, and verified it on several medical sites. This is my take on the suburbs mission. I used it to give you the reader where in the cannon time line we are currently at. And for the final part of this note, I still don't own Chuck or STV however Gabriel and Sirella are still mine. Thanks for taking the time to read and if you would like to see something in the future let me know.

After the flight to LA, Chuck and Sarah made their way to Ellie's. When they arrived the greeting they got from Ellie went as expected, bone crushing hugs and squeals. Ellie was relieved when she got the call from Sam telling her that her brother was not on the plane that crashed in Kansas. The couples soon made their way to the couch and began to explain what had gone on.

"Ellie, there was a leak in the NSA and our real names were released to a few people who would want us dead. We don't believe it was intentional right now, but our covers were blown so we had to fake our deaths. It would have been harder to do, but when we got switched off the plane that crashed and put on a later one, our bosses decided it would be a perfect opportunity," said Chuck.

"We decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth and use the crash as a cover for our deaths," added Sarah, "It's amazing what the CIA and NSA can do if they want to. The down side of all this is you will have to refer to us as the Carmichaels from now on."

Ellie was the first to speak up after Sarah finished her part of the explanation, "I'll need some time to wrap my head around what you just told us. You two, as the Bartowski's are dead, but as the Carmichaels are alive? Does that about cover it?"

"Got it in one sis," Chuck answered with a grin. "All of us have had a long day; I suggest we get to bed and pick it up in the morning if needed. Sarah and I will be around for a while doing a mission in the area." He held up his hands in the hold on motion and continued, "No Ellie, we don't expect any trouble on this mission. It should be a piece of cake."

Sarah let out an exasperated sigh and spoke, "Chuck, you're a self-proclaimed trouble magnet, but this time I agree with you. It has been a long day. Ellie and Devon, if you would excuse us, we would like to get some sleep before we leave in the morning."

"No problem Sarah, you kids have a nice night," Devon answered for the both of them.

The next day Sarah and Chuck arrived at their _new_house in the suburbs. It took several trips to move their personal belongings from the self-storage place the agency had placed their cover belongings in. They really needed to sell the image of a couple moving into a new house. The house hold goods had been delivered the day prior by the NSA. Just as the couple was finishing up the pizza they had ordered, there was a knock at the door. Chuck went to answer it.

"Can I help you?"

"Hi, my name is Brad, and I am the self-appointed welcoming committee for the neighborhood."

"Nice to meet you Brad, I'm Chris and this Seanna my wife." Chuck said while shaking the Brad's hand. Sarah mimicked Chuck's actions.

"The reason I stopped by is to let you know we have a neighborhood tradition," Brad said. "When someone new moves into the neighborhood we have a barbeque in their honor. Sort of a meet and greet if you will. Most of the couples on the block should be there. All you need to bring is a couple of side dishes, potato salad, coleslaw, or that type of thing. It will be at my house across the street around five tomorrow."

"That should be fine," Chuck answered. "I get home around four. I should have plenty of time to shower and change. My cousin has been helping us move. Would it be alright if he tagged along?"

"That shouldn't be a problem, so I'll see you then" shaking their hands again he turns and heads home.

Once back in the house Sarah begins to talk. "Did he seem a bit off to you?"

"No why?"

"He never checked me out. I'm not trying to sound vain but I seduced men quite a few times and they always checked me out. He just looked at my eyes."

"That is a problem; most men look you like a tiger stalking a gazelle. Something strange is going on here," said Chuck.

"You should be the one to keep an eye on him. If I do it he may think I'm coming on to him, and we both know that's not going to happen."

"Sounds like a plan to me Sarah. Tomorrow you see if you can get anything out of the wives while I meet up with the west coast team. I'll see if they picked up any information Beckman doesn't have yet. I'll get Casey started on a check for any things that are out of the ordinary. Large quantities Fed Ex or UPS deliveries that kind of thing."

The next day passed quickly and soon it was time to go meet the neighbors. Sarah and Chuck were surprised that they were actually having a good time. Their only concern was their neighbors all seemed a bit to perfect. That was until Sylvia showed up and started making passes at Chuck. He remembered how jealous Sarah got when he met Sirella for the first time. He made up some excuse about needing help getting something from their house so he could calm her down.

"Sarah you need to calm down. You know I love you, so what's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal!" screamed Sarah, "That harpy has her hands all over you!"

"She only touched my arm a few times, and I brushed her off each time."

Fixing him a stern glare she informs him, "I can forgive once, but no more. She is practically undressing you with her eyes. If she touches you one more time I'm gonna knock that smile off her face!"

"No you won't Bartowski. You're going to let him get close to her," Casey says as he enters the room from the back yard.

"Are you nuts Casey!"

"Nope, I did some checking and found out her husband has been getting a lot of deliveries from a company that sells fiber optics and CAT 5 cables. If he is a lawyer as he says, why does he need that much? I think our best option is to get in the house, and have the nerd do some investigating."

"Casey I can't break into someone's house yet. I haven't got my B and E license yet."

"Who said you have to break in to anything? It's clear as day she…" _Struck a nerve, did I?_

"Don't go there Casey" Sarah snaps at him. _No way in hell!_

"Don't get your panties in a twist Sarah it's …"

"Sooo not going to happen, I'll go in and check it myself." _He went there_

"I'm not saying he has to sleep with her. He just has to make her think he's interested in her to get inside. Then he spikes her drink, looks around, and gets out, simple as that."

"Uh guys I'm still here you know." _This can't end well._

Sarah and Casey both looked at Chuck and at the same time said. "We know Chuck."

"Sheesh, just checking Sarah, you're not going to like this, but I agree with Casey. You don't use that much networking cable in a normal house. Her husband might be trying to hack into databases of companies or even the Government. The loony CIA agent lived here, so he could have gotten some of the access codes."

"I hate it when you're right. You can do it, but if I find one hair, the smallest smudge of lipstick or her perfume anywhere on your body you're a dead man!" _I_ _hope he's still scared of me._

"It's settled then. Tomorrow, Chuck pays a visit to Mrs. Grabby hands and makes his move."

Next Day

_So far so good,_thinks Chuck as he sits on the couch in Sylvia's living room. Chuck asked for a tour of the house so he could snoop without actually having to sneak around. In the master bed room he noted the presence of a computer, well server actually. He just had to figure out how to get back into the bedroom without doing something that would cause Sarah to inflict bodily harm on him. His plan was working until Sylvia started putting on the full court press. Casey's plan seemed the safest to him at this point. Just tranque the harpy, check out the server, and leave. As usual the fates conspired against Chuck.

"Chris I need some help. The computer in my bedroom is acting funny. Could you show me how to do a virus scan and see if it fixes the problem?" the whole time she was speaking she was getting closer to Chuck. Even though he was married to Sarah, beautiful women still had an adverse effect on Chuck. He still couldn't stop turning into a babbling idiot.

"I….what…it's in your room…bedroom umm where you sleep. I'm not sure if that's a good idea." _Aw man I'm dead if Sarah finds out_

"Please Chris, I don't bite, unless you ask nicely," _Oh yeah I got him now._

"I'll see what I can do."

Sylvia led Chuck to the bedroom where she attempted to kiss him. Chuck placed his arms on her shoulders pretending to pull her in for the kiss. Just as their lips were about to touch the drugs took effect and she collapsed on the bed. He powered up the server and began hacking into it. One quick flash and he was in. He felt the familiar feeling of an update start, and just as fast, it was over. In the past he would have himself flat on his ass. Ever since the new upload he got from Gabriel, each one after that had little effect on him. He just got all the answers he needed. He administered the antidote to the drugs he had given Sylvia.

"Sylvia, come on, wake up." Her eyes began to flutter slowly, "That's a girl wake up. Those drinks must have hit you pretty hard."

"Did you get in Chris?"

"I never got to try. You blacked out for a second and I tried to get you to come around."

"I think I'll be fine now. You better leave before my husband gets home."

"Or my wife kills me." Hoping he covered his tracks he leaves and returns home.

He no sooner gets in the door and Sarah is all over him like a dog in heat. _Sarah isn't actually sniffing me_? "In case you're interested, I know what's going on," Chuck told her.

"Just checking to make sure you listened. So what did you find out?"

"She wanted me to check out her computer because it was acting funny. She started getting frisky so I sedated her like we discussed. When I powered up the computer it went right to an intersect test download. I'm guessing it's a test because it was over in seconds. What I do know is, all of our neighbors are Fulcrum, and they have a hidden base under Brads' house. My best guess is they have an intersect of their own."

Any thoughts she had about the harpy left as soon as Chuck started explaining what he found out. "We have to let Beckman know. You call Casey, and I'll take care of Beckman."

Ten minutes later the trio was waiting for Beckman to appear. "What have we got team?"

"The Reader's Digest condensed version is the whole block is Fulcrum, they have their own version of the intersect, and they found a way to test the subjects before doing the full download," answered Chuck. "The information in the test strongly suggests the intersect room is under Brads house."

"Great work Chuck! I'll alert the NSA team in the area, and you inform Gabriel's people. The team should be there in less than fifteen minutes. When they arrive, they will take everyone into custody including you. I'm doing it this way in case they have spotters watching the block. Stay alert Beckman out."

"Chuck let's go before the teams get here. No sense in getting caught up in this mess." They left the house and began to make their way to the car. Suddenly, two men popped up from behind the driver's side of the car and began walking towards them. Chuck noticed a tiny bit of movement in his peripheral vision to his left. Several things happened at once.

Chuck turned to see what caught his eye and saw Sylvia and Brad standing there. She hissed "I know you got into our computer so you need to come with us. Brad you take care of Chris while I take care of Seanna."

Sylvia had a Taser in her right hand pointing it at Sarah. Chuck's reaction was quicker than he even expected. His left hand shot out catching Sylvia on the wrist deflecting the Taser just as she pulled the trigger. The wires flew wide of Sarah, and she began to advance on Brad. Chuck was now acting on his instincts which had improved from the months of training with Sarah. Chuck went to throw a straight right hand at Sylvia's head but hesitated when he realized it was a girl he was about to hit. This split second of hesitation allowed Sylvia to land a left hook that staggered Chuck. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs. All of a sudden, it was as if switch was thrown, all the hours he had spent training in the Dojo with Sarah kicked in. Sylvia's left leg was heading straight for the side of his head from her round house kick. Chuck snapped his head to the left and twisted his body to avoid the blow. The kick struck a glancing blow to his temple. Chuck quickly launched into a counter attack throwing a straight right that connected squarely to her jaw. He followed that with a left hook to the body that caused her to bend over in pain. Chuck finished her off with a knee to the face rendering her unconscious. He stepped behind Sarah who was exchanging blows with Brad.

Sarah had already exchanged several blows with Brad when she felt Chuck's presence behind her. She snapped her right leg forward in a powerful front kick driving Brad backwards a few steps. He started his counter attack with a weak left jab that was easily blocked by Sarah. She countered with right cross and continued through the punch landing her elbow as well. Blood was now flowing freely from Brad's broken nose. She swept his left leg knocking him to the ground where she finished him off with a vicious side kick to his head. She turned to where she heard the telltale sound of punches being landed.

Chuck was currently in a fight with two men, and he was barely holding his own. From her brief look she could see he had several bruises and cuts. She flew into the fray landing a flying side kick to the man not currently exchanging blows with Chuck. That knocked him back several feet. Knowing he had help, Chuck could now concentrate all his attacks on his opponent. He could feel himself tiring, and knew that he had to end this soon. His ribs were hurting from the punches and kicks he had taken. His breathing was coming harder than normal, impaired by the damage to his ribs. He knew for sure there was a cut over his left eye, courtesy of a kick, and the blood was starting to impair his vision. Chuck launched a full on offensive, using every move he could. He started off with a furious series of leg kicks mixing in a few well-placed punches. His opponent was good, just not as good. Chuck saw the opening he needed. The man's left hand was down holding his ribs that had been damaged from some of Chucks earlier punches and kicks. With all the remaining strength he had he sent a round house kick to the man's head snapping it sideways and not allowing his momentum to stop he followed up with a vicious spinning back hand that sent him into unconsciousness. Chucks last bit of energy spent, he collapsed to his knees sucking in large gulps of air as best he could.

Sarah was starting to tire as well. Her opponent was bigger and stronger, but she was quicker. She was landing more punches and kicks, but his were doing more damage. She caught a quick glimpse of Chuck falling to his knees but kept up her attack sensing he was ok. Her opponent dodged her overhand left and landed a straight right to her jaw rocking her backwards. She was in trouble and knew it. She saw her opponent starting to unleash a front kick when he suddenly vanished from her view. Her energy now spent she joined Chuck in falling to her knees.

The NSA team along with some Gabriel's team arrived in short order. As the team pulled into the cul-de-sac they could see Chuck and Sarah engaged in hand to hand combat with two men. From what they could tell it was nip and tuck for the two agents. The NSA team lead ordered his team to cordon off the area. Casey nearly flew out of the vehicle he was in and came to aid of his partner who was not fairing all that well, and Chuck who was on his knees. When they got to the house the team fanned out and started rounding up the remaining Fulcrum agents. They soon had the entire neighborhood arrested and carted off.

She looked up from her knees and saw Casey perched on the back of the man she had been fighting cuffing him.

"You taught Bartowski well. I saw him take out that last guy with one hell of an impressive move. Although, to be honest, you two look like shit," Casey informed her with a touch of admiration in his voice.

"Thanks Casey," Sarah says with a bit of pride, "but I have to check on Chuck. He was taking on two of them before I could help him out." Casey escorted her over to where Liz and Cameron from Gabriel's west coast team are tending to Chuck near what appears to be a medical vehicle.

"Sarah, we need to have a look at you as well. Have a seat," stated Liz. "Your bio sensors are showing you should be ok, and have you no major injuries. You have a few minor cuts and some pretty good bruises. Chuck suffered a couple of bruised ribs, and has a cut over his left eye that Cameron is stitching up as we speak. You two will be fine in a couple of days."

At the same time Liz was treating Sarah, Chuck was being tended to by Cameron. She went over his injuries, "You have a couple of bruised ribs and a cut over your left eye. Your life sign implants show you to be in good shape other than the ribs and cut. I'm going to stitch you up and wrap your ribs. Liz is taking care of your wife as we speak." When the injuries were done being treated the couple headed to the car they had used for the mission.

"Sarah, I'm sorry, I froze when I went to hit her for the first time. I could have gotten us killed."

"Chuck, it was your first real fight. You never hit a woman before, and you only hesitated a second. At one point you were taking on two attackers, and doing pretty good against them. I couldn't more proud of you than I am right now. You did very well for your first time."

"You know, we both look like crap right now don't you? Plus, my ribs hurt like hell. I just want the briefing to get over so I can shower and go to sleep. Plus I have to tell Ellie how I got the snot kicked out of me. I mean look at us. It's not like she isn't going to notice."

"Stop right there Chuck. You did not get the snot kicked out of you. You have only been training for a couple of months, and you knocked out a trained agent. With what Casey described to me as an impressive move. So please stop selling yourself short."

"I don't want to face Ellie tonight, so why don't we just come back here? We can relax on the couch and watch a movie after we get cleaned up. What do you say?"

"Sounds like a very good idea. Now let's get Casey, and go to the briefing."

The Nest an hour later

At the nest the massive monitors came to life. General Beckman was on the left, and Gabriel and Sirella on the right.

"Chuck and Sarah, you look like shit," quipped Beckman, who had just a hint of a smile on her face.

"So we keep hearing Ma'am," they both replied.

"Major Casey, can you please tell me why two of your team mates look like something the cat threw up?"

"Yes Ma'am." Casey explained the fight he witnessed as he was pulling up. He also confirmed that Chuck's suspicion about the location of the Fulcrum Intersect was correct. The NSA team, with the help of Gabriel's computer expert, was in the process of down loading the Fulcrum intersect.

"General, I'd like to offer my opinion on something if I may?" asked Gabriel.

"If your suggestion has merit, I will consider it."

"I know the intersect is your project, and I am just helping out your team," this drew a chuckle from Beckman's team. "Sirella and I feel we have a great opportunity here. We have the information from Fulcrums intersect so we should use it. The combination of your data and theirs combined will be a huge advantage in stopping Fulcrum. Let my techs have it, and in few days, before your team leaves, we upload Chuck."

"I'm not a computer!" Chuck informed the group.

"Yes you are," Chorused the group.

"I like the idea, but it's not up to me. I'll leave it up to the Bartowski's to decide. It's his brain it's going into. Chuck and Sarah, get back to me as soon as you decide. Chuck, one last thing before I go; I am very impressed at the progress you are making with your training. I have been going over the reports that I get from your two trainers. You are well ahead of where we predicted you should be at this point. This last mission proves to me that you have the potential to be one of our best agents, if not the best. You and Sarah together will be amazing. Adding Major Casey to the mix may make you unbeatable. Several months ago I was dead set against you and Sarah having a relationship at all. I threatened to reassign then agent Walker until I was gently persuaded to sanction your relationship. It seems this person was correct. Love can indeed make you work harder and perform better. You did very well Chuck. Keep up the good work. Beckman out."

Three stunned agents sat around the table with the words Beckman just finished saying still running in their heads. They were caught up in their musings until Gabriel broke the silence.

"Chuck, what are your thoughts on uploading the data we recovered from the Fulcrum intersect?"

"Huh…sorry… I'm still trying to process what the General just said. You know about me becoming one of the best Agents she has. Not really sure about that one though. I just wanted to get better ya know, and not get in the way all the time like I had been doing. It took me by surprise."

"Chuck," Sarah says breaking Chucks rambling "take a deep breath and relax. What Beckman just told us should not come as that big of a surprise. The CIA was looking at recruiting you when you were in Stanford. If Bryce hadn't gotten you kicked out, you would have gotten recruited back then."

"I'm only going to say this once Bartowski. You've surprised me. I watched you kick that guy's ass into next week during the fight. I am going to leave so you two can decide if you're gonna stuff more crap in his head. I want to make sure the cleanup teams got everything." With that Casey gets up and leaves.

"I understand the importance of me uploading Fulcrums data, but Casey brought up a valid point. How much can I stuff up here? Will it be safe?" Chuck says pointing to his head.

"Let me get the Doc in here to explain it."

Sarah put her hand over Chucks and said. "If the Doc thinks it's safe and won't cause you any damage I think you should do it. We have this monster mission to complete. But the most important thing to me is you. I am not willing to risk what we have for the job. I have done that already, and it almost cost me you."

"Guess you and I think alike. Doc, welcome to the party," added Chuck.

"You have some concerns about how much stuff, as you call it, you can stick in your head. There is no clear answer to that. I'll do my best to explain," began the Doc. "Our best possible guess of the average human brain's capacity would be by calculating the number of synapses connecting the neurons in the human brain. Because each of the synapses has different molecular states, we estimate each of them to be capable holding one megabyte worth of memory. Since the brain has 100-trillion-synapses, we can safely say that the average brain can hold about 100 million megabytes of memory."

"Even though the brain can store that much information it is not like a computer. There are no files or folders that you can access when you need to look up something. Think about this for a moment. Have you ever tried to remember the name of a movie and come up blank? You know you know it but just can't remember it. Then a couple hours later it pops into your mind? What makes you different than most all other humans is the ability to process that data. I have reviewed the data from the test subjects Fulcrum used. Most of them died or went insane. My theory is that the amount of data didn't kill them; it was the brain trying to process it. Their brains put so much effort into it that it affected their other systems. It's only a theory but it's the best I can do. So to answer your question is it safe, for you yes. I have been keeping track of your life signs from the implant. So far everything is normal."

"Thanks Doc. When can we be ready to hook me up?"

"Give us two days to get the upload ready. My techs say it will take a while. They are going to compare the data in both versions and eliminate redundant information to save space and avoid conflicts. We also reviewed the stops you made in Europe and the contacts you developed. They have come up with a way to supply you with language skills. You'll be getting the most commonly spoken languages and a few other goodies. It will be a two part process. During the first phase the old version will be removed. Then we will upload the new version. So I would recommend you go and hang out with you sister and Devon."

"I guess we'll see you in a couple of days. Let's go Sarah."

On the way to the house they had used for the mission they discussed the events of the day and the mission they just completed. With Ellie and Devon flying back to Philadelphia with them, they needed a way to tell the couple what awaited them upon their arrival at the residence. They also came up with a plan that would hopefully not shock his sister. The hardest part of the plan would be telling them about the house. The living there was easy. They thought the CIA owned it. The hard part will be telling her that they actually owned it. The next couple days went by quickly for the two couples. Sarah and Chuck did take a couple hours for Chuck to upload the new intersect.

Ellie and Devon's house got packed up, and all the items were shipped out. Casey had arranged a NSA moving team to take of everything including Ellie's and Devon's cars. It was time to head back east and finish getting ready for the holidays. As they were heading to the airport, Ellie started wondering where they were headed.

"Chuck you missed the turn for the rental return. You need to go back," Ellie informed him.

"No sis were not going to the main terminal, we are going to a private terminal to catch our flight."

"What do mean private?"

"What Chuck means Ellie is we will be flying on our personal jet courtesy of the CIA. We'll be flying on a Gulfstream G550 I think you'll like it. We don't need to return the car, we have someone on site who will take it back," explained Sarah.

"There's Casey. We should get moving. Chuck please help Devon with the bags, while we board the plane."

As soon as Ellie entered the plane se looked and said. "OH…MY…GOSH! Sarah this is incredible. This is wild. I have never been on anything like this before. It's sure going to beat flying coach."

"So far we like it, actually what's not to like. It has good range, just over six thousand miles. It normally seats twelve but we changed it. We had it modified a bit and took out some seats and added a private room with a bed for our longer flights. We have specially designed phones that allow us to communicate while in flight. There are some other perks, but you probably don't want to hear about them. We better get seated Chuck and Devon are boarding," explained Sarah.

"If you guys are ready to go I'll inform the flight crew," stated Casey.

"I think we're ready to go Casey," answered Chuck as he took his seat next to Sarah.

They spent most of the flight trying to figure out the things they wanted to do over the holidays. When they got about an hour out from Philadelphia Chuck and Sarah got up and went into their private suite. When they emerged twenty minutes later Ellie was again rendered speechless. Gone was the nerdy brother she had known all her life. He had been replaced by a man who stood taller and had an air of confidence about him. His normal attire of slacks and logo tee shirt was gone. Chuck stood before her wearing a light grey Armani jacket with matching trousers. Under the jacket he had on a light blue shirt open at the collar. Sarah was dressed to impress as well in a Ralph Lauren below the knee sheath dress in a dark blue. Ellie thought they look excellent together.

"You two look awesome, but why did you change? Chuck, when did you get such a sense of fashion?"

"Let's just say it's for the job. We only have a few minutes before we land, but we will explain it all when we get to our place."

"I have to admit bro, you two look very good. But it's weird seeing you look so professional," added Devon.

It wasn't long before they were on the ground and headed to the residence. Thankfully the weather was cooperating with them. It was a clear day with a slight breeze. The temperature was in the middle fifties, a little warmer than usual. As they got close Chuck leaned in and whispered in his wife's ear,

"Are you ready for this?" Sarah responded with a nod of her head. As they pulled up to the main gate both Ellie and Devon were in awe of the place that their sister in law called home.

"Dude that house is so awesome! I can't believe the CIA put you in a friggin mansion" exclaimed Devon.

"You're kidding right? There is no way they put you in that place. We're just dropping you off for a business dinner that's the real reason you got changed," echoed Ellie clearly not believing they actually lived here. Having reached the front door they exited the limo and headed inside.

"Trust me Sis, this is where we live. We prefer to call it our residence. Sarah told you we would explain so let us show you around and explain at the same time."

Chuck took Sarah's hand and they began the tour explaining as they went. Chuck led them into a large room that was semidetached from the main building. Three of the 'walls' were windows, as was the ceiling, which offered a stunning view of the clear December sky. The room was modestly decorated and contained three white leather French Louis XVI style chairs, with matching ottomans and sofa.

"This is the conservatory; it offers a great view of the gardens. Sarah and I come out her a lot to have our morning coffee. I can't say much about what we are doing but this is all part of our cover, well mostly. We need to fit in with the filthy rich. Our house, clothes and cars have to reflect our wealth. The worst part for us is the etiquette lessons we have to take."

"Your brother is right, the lessons stink. The reason we were globetrotting was to hit all the fashion capitols to get our wardrobes. Everything you see here is ours," She sneaks a glance and gets his nod of approval, "that includes the residence."

It took a few seconds, Chuck guessed, until the unexpected happened. He was waiting for the words of disbelief he was sure would come but they never came. Ellie looked eerily familiar to himself when he first started to flash. First the glazed look, followed by the fluttering of the eyes, that was where the similarities ended._Ellie please don't._Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fainted dead away.

_Chuck was so sure it would work better if I told her, thought Sarah. Guess not._

Devon was not quick enough to catch her before she hit the floor, but he did slow her descent enough to prevent her from hitting her head.

"Chuck, give me a hand getting her to the sofa" urged Devon. It took several minutes before Ellie got lucid enough to talk.

"This all yours," Ellie's voice was barely above a whisper. Ellie was still not able to wrap her head around what she was being told or seeing with her own eyes. "You… own… a mansion? I need a drink," she said while shaking her head in disbelief.

They ended the tour in the family room. Chuck retrieved a couple of bottles of wine for the group and for Casey his normal glass of Macallan 30 year single malt scotch.

"You know Bartowski," he says while tipping his glass in a mock salute "this is one big perk. So much better than the stuff I normally drink."

"You really should thank the people that stocked this place. There is no way the NSA or CIA would spring for that Scotch or those rare imported cigars."

"I only have one glass a day and I savor every single bit of it."

"I guess it's time for the explanation to begin. I'll start off, and Chuck can fill in when needed." And Sarah did just that. They explained the best they could without letting them in on to many details or the seriousness of the mission. It took a while, but when they finished, his sister had a better idea of what exactly Chuck did.

"I know you guys must be tired, it has been a long day. Plus, Ellie still doesn't look so good, and it might be a good idea for you to get some rest." Chuck and Sarah rose from their seats and motioned for Devon and Ellie to follow them.

"We'll show you to your room it's on the opposite end of the hall from ours. It has a full bathroom, so you can get refreshed before going to bed. No need to worry, it's fully stocked with anything you may need. If you need anything else, give us a call. There is a phone beside the bed. Push the button marked master bedroom and we'll pick up." Chuck gave Ellie a hug and peck on the cheek good night and shakes Devon's hand. Sarah hugs them both and heads down the hall to their room.


End file.
